Talons, Traitors and Turtles
by yurisi54
Summary: As the eldest son, Leonardo devotes his life to nothing but being perfection. His family's safety is the top priority. However, something strange is brewing within the depths of New York's alleyways. Something dangerous... something equipped with sharp teeth, talons... and wings. And as his brothers begin to turn on him, striving for perfection becomes the last of Leo's worries.
1. Prologue

**((A.N. - Hi! So, if you're re-reading this story, you might notice the prologue is a bit different... okay, **_a lot_** different. But don't worry! I didn't get rid of anything that was essential to the overall story, and in fact, I got rid of a lot of unnecessary portions. And I'm planning on doing that to the next few chapters as well, just so they're consistent with my new style of writing. And if you're wondering, this story takes place during the middle of season 4, after Shredder's been booted from the city, and the Kraang are gone from Earth.**

**Hope you understand and enjoy the new and improved prologue!))**

* * *

Early twilight blanketed the distant, star-filled sky, signalling that the day was in its final stretch before eventual nightfall. Evening light rapidly began to fade, turning the orange, pastel sky a deep purple.

The setting sun had long since journeyed behind the towering skyscrapers, its thin, outstretched rays becoming the last remnant of its dominion over the sky a mere two hours ago.

A jet was passing overhead.

Leonardo shivered.

Though he would have liked to blame the involuntary action on cold weather, it was more than clear _that_ wasn't the case: he couldn't seem to _stop _sweating. The summer this year was _sweltering_, more than usual, and the heat left him and his brothers, though reptiles, feeling stuffy in the thick air.

Even when a summer thunderstorm dumped rain upon the city, the atmosphere didn't cool; it turned _humid_.

Patrols just weren't as memorable as they used to be nowadays.

Leo sighed, reaching up and brushing away beads of sweat from his forehead. _'At least it'll be a bit cooler without the sun. Heading back home won't be as terrible as it was coming all the way up here.'_

Summer had its perks, but spending nearly two hours baking - err, _on the lookout - _for crime that would never come, was definitely _not _one of Leo's favourite hobbies. And so, while suppressing a yawn of boredom, he turned himself away from the ever-glowing New York skyline.

"Alright, guys, let's pack it up. Nothing's happening." He announced, hearing Raphael's groan of disappointment.

Mikey's head perked up at the sound from where he was seating by the ledge, and he tugged out his earbuds.

"We done?" He asked hopefully, eyes darting toward each brother for an answer.

Leo was already ahead of the group, with Donnie tagging along behind him.

"Yeah, Mike, we're done for today," Leo repeated over his shoulder, taking the lead as he guided his team back to the sewers.

To their home.

Where they'd be _safe_.

Their slow strides morphed into a fast-paced game of who could get to the lair first.

His stomach gave an unease flop as he leaped over a gap in between an apartment and an old warehouse, using the momentum to keep his place locked in front of the others.

'_Why?' _He cursed the feeling.

This had been a typical patrol, nothing too special other than the disgusting heat. Heck, on the bright side, they had gotten through an entire patrol _without_ having to fight some stupid street gang jerks.

_That _had to count for something, right?

So why did he feel so… _off_?

Why was there this persistent, tingling sensation that… something didn't bode well?

It was like... dreaded _anticipation_.

Like when he and his brothers infiltrated the Kraang's base for the first time to rescue April and her father. Or when they ran straight into the Shredder and thoroughly got their shells handed back to them. And like when he awoke at the _farmhouse_, only to learn he had been out cold for three months and their father was missing. Then the Triceratons invaded Earth...

But during all those encounters, he felt he actually had a _reason _to fear… to doubt they'd make it out alive. It wasn't very _good _for his consciousness, sure, but the point still stood that back _then_, worrying about his family's safety was relevant to the situation.

Now? During a patrol? When New York was secure and everything was more peaceful than it ever had been?

Call it the calm before the storm or whatever, but something didn't sit right with the leader. A stubborn part of his mind would still argue with him, though, claiming he had nothing to worry about because the _Shredder was gone,_ for shell's sake!

And he wasn't coming back, by the looks of it.

So why was he so _jumpy_? Why was he-

"_**Leo**_!"

The leader jolted from his thoughts, and for a split second, felt his right foot hit nothing but air as the roof ran out. He could see the ground below, about three stories down, and braced himself for unpleasant impact of concrete just as a pair of arms yanked him to the side.

Surprised, he yelped, crashing hard onto the brother who had pulled him away from the ledge, inches from where they now lay, panting and hearts racing.

Leo sat up groggily, unsure about what exactly had just happened in those few, blurry and unfocused seconds; Raph was next to him, rubbing the back of his head with gritted teeth as he pushed himself up onto his knees.

The leader's mouth felt so dry he swore he could spit sand; two pairs for rushing footsteps caught his attention.

"Woah, dude! You okay?"

The leader could hear Mikey's voice, tight with concern, and it took a few blinks before his eyesight returned to normal.

Leo nodded after a moment, not wanting them to worry. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just-"

"_Okay!_?" Raph hollered out in disbelief, causing the eldest to wince at his sharp tone. He gestured to the edge with a wide swoop of his arm. "You- you just almost _threw _yourself off a _building_! How is that _okay_?"

Donnie knelt down next to the blue ninja, and before Leo could stop him, pressed a hand to his forehead.

"Hmm… I don't think you have a fever or anything." He concluded after a few seconds of evaluation, frowning a bit. "Maybe it was a small bout of heat stroke? You looked totally out of it when we started heading home. Do you think that's what got to you?"

Leo shook his head, not to answer the question, but to get his younger brother's hand off his face.

"Sort of," He lied casually. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Raph snorted. "_Pfft_. The freaks who want us _dead _are _gone_, and you nearly _kill _yourself by running off a building. Yeah, that sounds about right."

Donnie lightly kicked him in the back of the shell as a warning to watch to his tone.

Raph glared over his shoudler at him, almost growling. But when he faced Leo again, it was with a softer expression. He gave his older brother a light punch to the shoulder. "Just try and chill out, man. You've been kinda freakin' out for the past couple days. And if it's all because Shredder's gettin' to ya, don't worry. If he comes back, we can take him."

Leo couldn't help but smile back; though what he said may have not been the complete truth, hearing the words and determined tone helped sooth his mind. "You're right… I… I totally lost myself. Thanks for catching me… _literally_."

Raph sat up a bit straighter. "That's what I'm here for: catching your mistakes."

Leo rolled his eyes.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," Donnie said, his gaze aimed towards the leader in blue. "But if it _wasn't _Shredder who got to you, and it was instead the _heat_, I think you should take a break when we get back to the lair. No TV or meditation or anything like that… just… relax. And I'd like to check your blood pressure, too."

Knowing arguing with the most stubborn member of the team would be futile, Leo simply nodded. The purple ninja then held out his hand for him to take, and Leo accepted. Raph pushed himself to his feet afterwards.

"Wait! Does that mean I get the TV all to myself?" Mikey asked, breaking the moment with wide eyes and a hopeful grin.

Raph flicked the back of his head. "In your _dreams_. We'll play a round of pinball and whoever gets the highest score gets the TV."

"What?" Mikey exclaimed, sounding offended. He swatted away his brother's hand. "That's not fair! I _suck _at pinball!"

"That's the _point_, doofus."

Leo had to force back a chuckle, exchanging an amused glance over at Donnie as their trip home was accompanied by the never-relenting argument over who got the rights to the remote for the night.

It took his mind off things.

For the time being.

* * *

Hesitantly, Leo placed a foot into the dojo, one hand still touching the edge of the door frame like it was holding him back. '_Donnie's gonna kill me if he catches me here.'_

He paused, looking over his shoulder and gnawing on his bottom lip. _'Maybe this isn't a good idea after all. I'm supposed to be resting... but...'_

The still, meditating figure of his father was just a few strides away, and yet, he couldn't seem to will his legs to carry him there.

After the fiasco during their patrol earlier, Leo had decided it was time to ask his father for guidance. Being haunted by horrid, recurring nightmares was one thing, but nearly tossing himself off a building? Even in his _dreams _he was more lucid than _that: _watching helplessly as his brothers were stolen by the darkness and taken away to who-knows-where… all while he stood deathly still, unable to help, unable to breath.

He shuddered at the remembrance; but at least he had been in the moment.

And this uneasy feeling plaguing him was something he only felt when he and his brothers ran head-first into possible _death_.

Leo shook his head, scattering away the thoughts. _'You're not helping, brain,' _

And so, he sucked in a deep breath, gathered up his courage, and walked in.

Careful as to not make a sound, he lightly placed his footsteps over the areas he had learned made little to no noise. Then, he settled himself next to his father on the carpet, occasionally glancing over to see if he had noticed his presence yet.

The two sat in silence for a long, drawn-out minute, with Leonardo occasionally glancing over to see if he had noticed the presence of another person.

Eventually, the thought of Splinter waiting for _him_ to speak first flashed through his mind, and he hastily cleared his throat. "Um.. sensei…?

"Yes?"

He received a reply almost at once. _'How long did he know I was…? Whatever, whatever. Get on with it.'_

"Well… I was… wondering…" Leo began, not exactly sure how to phrase his thoughts. "I've been having really, _really _bad nightmares again. Like, the ones where I'm... _forced _to watch my team get… dragged away."

His father contemplated the words for a few seconds. "And do you know what may be causing these unpleasant dreams?"

Leo hesitated. "I… I don't… in all honestly, I was going to ask you what it could mean, sensei," Leo admitted. "It's been really calm lately, and I think that's throwing me off. But... do you think it could mean something?"

His father sighed, thinking over the information. "I am not in your mind, Leonardo." He eventually said. "I can give you guidance, but I cannot sense the problem as well as you. I do not know how badly these _dreams _are affecting you, but if they are anything like the _first_ time you came to me, I'm afraid I can only repeat what I said to you then."

Leo balled his hands into fists down by his side. "I know it has something to do with… my fears about being a leader. That's always the basis."

His father nodded. "Go on. That is a common fear."

"And, uh," The turtle's eyes darted around the floor, as though searching for guidance. "It's… affecting my ability to focus… a lot. I mean, more than it did before. In fact, I almost… ran off a building, today, actually. Raph caught me at the last second."

His father's ears swivelled forward at the comment; his figure stiffened.

But Leo went on, unaware of the slight movements. "I don't know what to do about this, sensei. Last time it felt _this _bad, we faced those freaky little mushroom things and… and then, I had to fight this _huge _mutant mushroom and, well, you know the story. I just… I'm worried."

The old rat lifted up his head, observing the shrine which reflected his previous life.

"Stress can often lead to nightmares." He said. "Do you believe something bad is approaching?"

Leo glanced over at the shrine then towards the ground. "N-no… I mean, maybe, but… if something bad _is_ coming, I just want the guys to be safe. And... I'd rather not tell them."

"Why not?" His father seemed interested in his last comment.

"They'll worry. I don't want that on their shoulders."

"So you would rather keep them in the dark about a possible threat?"

Leo shook his head. "No! _Never_!" He deflected. "I don't... it might _not_ be a threat, just... like you said, with the stress and stuff... uh..."

"And how can they trust you to keep them safe if you cannot trust yourself?" His father shot right back, catching Leo off guard with his stern tone.

He stammered over his words, surprised. "I… it's not that I _don't _trust myself, it's just that when I get these nightmares, usually… um… "

"You are hesitating. Why?" His father interrupted, turning his gaze toward his son.

Leo nervously looked back.

"I don't know," He confessed softly. "How… how are you able to stay calm? Even in the worse scenarios? Whenever I see you, you're always _calm_. I don't get it…"

His father put a hand on his son's sinking shoulder; Leo's gaze drifted up towards his face.

"Contrary to what you believe, I am always fearing for you boys." He revealed. "I have already told you this, but I face my fear everyday when you and your brothers leave the lair. However, I _trust _your judgements, and I _trust _that you will heed my teachings and use them to your advantage to get home safely."

His grip on his son's shoulder tightened a little.

"I cannot trust you if you do not trust yourself." He said sternly. "And your brothers cannot trust you if you don't trust yourself."

It took Leo a few seconds to find his voice. "B-but… what about my _dreams_? W-what…are they important?"

His father pulled back his arm and sighed. "You have had many nightmares like this, Leonardo. You have come to me more times than I can count with similar worries. However, the times where these dreams seem to be linked to _events _is very rare."

Leo's stomach flipped in uncertainty. "So, does that mean... this _could _be something?"

His father didn't exactly answer. "If I can tell you and your brothers about what I believe my dreams foresee, then you should be more willing to tell them about yours. Fearing for your team's safety is normal for a leader, my son. Do not overthink the easily explainable and wave away the impossible."

There was a pause.

"You can meditate with me if you wish. It may help."

But Leo shook his head, readying himself to stand back up.

"With all due respect, father, no thank you." He kindly declined. "I… I've been told to rest by a certain _'doctor'_, and I actually think it would benefit me… both physically and mentally."

Master Splinter nodded; his attention suddenly averted to something behind Leo.

"Oh, and is that your _'doctor' _over there?"

Leo was about to ask what he meant, but the answer hit him like a subway car; his head flew over his shoulder, coming almost face to face with a very, _very _irritated Donatello.

The leader straightened up, bringing his hands up by his chest as though he were expecting his brother to strike him.

"I, uh… I just wanted to _talk _about-" Leo rambled, the purple ninja's unimpressed gaze boring into him. "I was talking about my… _dreams _and I was about to go back! I wasn't out long, I swear-"

Donnie pointed at the exit without a word.

'_There's no point in arguing, he's a stubborn turtle. Just go.' _

And so, Leo took the hit to his pride without complaint, turning toward his father and thanking him for his time with a bow of respect.

'_This could be nothing,' _He tried convincing himself. _'Sensei's right. I've had these nightmares before. This could all mean nothing…' _

Donnie practically walked him out, holding the top rim of his shell as though to 'steer him' in the correct direction. The leader's footfalls were slightly heavier than when he walked in twenty minutes beforehand.

Before long, he was planted back onto the bed in his room and told to remain there until the family doctor decided he was fit to return to a normal schedule.

He watched the door gently close as Donnie left, and the sounds of Mikey and Raph arguing over the TV faintly trickled through the walls. The pinball game was on.

Leo stared up at the ceiling and sighed, placing his hands over his plastron and intertwining his fingers.

Perhaps Master Splinter was right; maybe these dreams were just regular nightmares and nothing more. Maybe he was just overworked. After all, both his father and Donnie had warned him that stress often led to disturbed sleeping patterns.

But… what if this time around, it was _different_? What if this _actually _meant something?

Leo tightly gripped the childish _Space Heroes_ bed sheets he should have outgrown years ago.

What if these were simply feelings of uncertainty toward _himself… _that he wasn't as perfect of a leader as he could be? As he _thought _he was?

'_No… no, that's… I'm doing the **best** I can. I'm doing all I **can** for them.' _He suddenly winced, recalling the nightmare from a few days ago, where his brothers did not shout _for _him, but rather _at _him.

"_You __**failed **__us!"_

"_Why didn't you __**do **__anything?"_

"_Why are you just __**standing **__there? You're the __**leader**__, Leo! __**Do **__something!" _

Leonardo cringed as their angry voices filled his ears, drowning out the white noise he had grown accustomed to. He ran his hands down his face and let out a deep exhale.

'_I'm… I'm not gonna let a few __**stupid **__insecurities and nightmares tear my team apart. I've gotten through things like this before and __**worse**__. If I can survive the __**end **__of the __**world**__, then I can handle __**anything**__. And if there's something __**bad **__coming, let it.'_

His eyes narrowed.

"I'm ready for _anything _you've got."

* * *

End Prologue


	2. Chapter 1

**((A.N. - Revised the first chapter (the one before this was the prologue). Hope you like it!))**

* * *

The Big Apple.

The City That Never Sleeps.

The City So Nice, They Named It Twice.

Or, you could just call it New York City and save some trouble.

And though the nicknames differed, it remained a proudly standing luminous and towering giant during the night, flaunting bright, fluorescent signs mounted to the sides of skyscrapers. The Manhattan skyline, resting just on the water's edge, was an aesthetic gold mine for photographers.

Much of the city's ground level had spots which appealed to the eye if one took the time to search for them.

Or perhaps they'd be swept away into the sea of hastily moving citizens, seemingly out every day from dawn till dusk, and then some. The majority found pleasure in chatting to one another in the crowds of buzzing movement, but in an area of over eight million people, there were bound to be a few exceptions.

Some favoured standing alone, dark statues shrouded in mystery as they leaned against the sides of buildings hidden away deep in shady alleyways. And there were those who avoided confrontation at all costs, opting to slip further into the mass of bodies without leaving a trace behind.

But what about those who remained virtually, if not totally, _unseen_? Unknown to the very civilians who inhabited the above ground world?

Some of those beings were trained to stay invisible to the human eye. Others feared humanity. Some wanted it to perish while a portion had nearly succeeded.

Thankfully, the main culprits behind the near devastation of the entire Earth, the Kraang, had long since vanished. Most people hadn't even been aware their precious planet was infested with aliens bent on world domination until their full scale invasion was launched.

It had been stopped, but just barely, and the Kraang disappeared a few years later with no tangible proof of their existence, save for minor security footage captured by the Channel 6 News.

But that too, in time, was all confiscated by the Earth Protection Force.

Still, one could argue that _ignorance is bliss,_ as they say. Or perhaps, it wasn't ignorance… and rather _obliviousness_.

No human far below in the bustling streets noticed that, far above the glowing sidewalks, on one of the many flat ledges of the rooftops, the peaceful sound of white noise was sliced open with a _scream_.

It was a scream that begged for the attention of _someone _to come to their aid. But, with the honking horns and cackling below, it was an impossible feat. No one below was able to hear the desperate cry for help, so high overhead… the loud, pained, _distressed_-

_"_Raph, will you _cut_ it out? Mikey's had _enough_ already_._"

"Yeah! Uncle, _uncle_! Jeez!"

Leo was _past_ being irritated at the complete lack of maturity "some" of the members of his team could display during patrol - when they were supposed to be the most _vigilant_.

The most _ninja-y_.

But then Mikey had to go and dangle his victory over winning a single pinball game against Raph right into his _face_; it held the same dangers as poking a lion with a stick.

So, it became more of a game of _when _would Raph crack, rather than _if_.

Still, Leo had to be fair about it: the hot headed turtle _did _hold off much longer than expected.

And before he had completely _lost _it, kicking Mikey to the ground, planting a foot on his chest and threatening to push him off the building, Leo would have _actually _believed Raph was starting to get his anger under control.

But from the looks of it… well, even _leaders_ could be _wrong_ sometimes.

It all reached its peak once Raph grabbed their baby brother by the rim of the shell, holding him up so his flailing feet no longer even reached the ground. He brought him a _bit _too close to the edge for comfort, and that was when Leo had to step in and get the situation under control.

"Not lettin' go 'til Mikey admits he _cheated_," The red masked ninja snapped right back, never taking his fuming gaze off the turtle in his grip.

Leo groaned at his stubbornness and crossed his arms.

"_Uh_? Leo? You just gonna let him _toss _me off or _what_?" Mikey risked a glance over his leader's way. "Bro! If you help me, I will _clean _your room for a week- no _month_! Just- _Leo_!"

Donnie leaned towards the eldest brother a bit, clearly amused by the scene before them.

"Well, at least there's a pretty big fountain below the building." He whispered, trying to optimise. "It's deep, too. Couldn't hurt _that _much to fall into it."

Leo shook his head. "Yeah, but that's not an excuse for… _this_." He whispered right back, fed up with his two brother's arguing. "And besides, there's _people _down there."

He raised his voice back to normal. "Raph, I mean it, put Mikey _down_. We're not even _done_ patrol yet."

Raph finally looked over at him, eyes narrowed. "What, and let _Cheater _here flaunt his _bullshit _victory? Yeah, _no_."

"Raph, it's a game of _pinball_." Donnie chimed in, trying to assist. "I'm pretty sure you weren't _this _upset when _Casey _beat you in a fight."

"Yeah, 'cause he ain't _Mikey."_

Said brother was still screaming, and Leo's annoyance was starting to fizzle into worry; they were supposed to be _halfway _done with the midnight patrol by now! What would Master Splinter think if they didn't return home by their two a.m. curfew?

There were _two_ possible punishments that awaited for them if they didn't get their act together: a grounding or a session of _randori... _and _neither_ option seemed more appealing than the other.

"Okay, look, if we go hurry up with _this_, we can go _home_, you can have a _rematch_," He tried to suggest, teeth gritted to keep the volume of his voice under control. "Just… you're gonna draw _attention_ to us!"

"Oh, please," Raph rolled his eyes and threateningly shoved Mikey a bit closer over the ledge, ignoring his yelps. "Who's gonna be looking at a building that's, like, _fifty _feet up in the air?"

"_Pfft_, you'd be surprised," Donnie muttered under his breath so Raph wouldn't hear.

But Leo did. And it made his skin crawl. The words helped throw together an image that made his blood run cold: _Shredder_.

'_His goons are __**still **__out there. The Shredder may not be able to do… much of anything now, with his mutation so unstable, but Tiger Claw, Fishface, Razar and the rest of them are __**fine**__. They could be…' _He paused, suddenly feeling sick. _'They could be in the __**city **__already. __**Looking **__for __**us**__.'_

That was the last straw.

"Raph, I am _not _telling you this again." Leo domineered, taking a step forward. "Put Mikey _down_. You guys are practically holding up a sign with our location stamped onto it. We're finishing this patrol."

For a moment, Raph didn't make any signs of letting go; in fact, his grip on Mikey's shell tightened, and the youngest braced for impact.

Then, without warning, he swung him over toward the ground.

Mikey landed hard on his right shoulder as he hit the roof, but quickly recovered, scrambling away and rushing up to his stone-faced leader.

"Thank you!" He gushed over and over with puppy dog eyes. "I will clean your room for a _week _for this!"

Leo blinked. "I thought you said a month?"

Mikey's gratefulness suddenly fell away, and he stared up at the oldest brother with an annoyed expression.

"Yeah, well, but you took too long to get _that _bargain." He replied. "Also I heard somewhere that fear shaves off your lifespan or something, and I'm not gonna waste a whole _month _on your room."

Leo chuckled, his concern melting away, and patted his baby brother's shoulder. "Alright. Let's just… get on with this." His attention averted towards Raph. "_Please_."

The hot head scoffed. "Sure. Alright, cool." He agreed reluctantly.

The leader winced at his tone; much to Leo's surprise, his concern toward the well-being of his brothers did not earn him all the praise he thought it would. While his father was proud to see his eldest son was taking more responsibility over his family, he warned that too much strain could be bad for the spirit and mind.

And _some _of his brothers, as demonstrated just now, did _not _fully appreciate the persistent '_mother hen_' attitude.

Leo watched as Raph stormed past him.

The number of trivial squabbles his brothers were fighting amongst themselves were growing more and more frequent. At first, he figured it had something to do with the summer heat oozing into their usually cool lair.

But all the arguments and threats made it all the more difficult for him to believe something bad _wasn't _on the horizon.

However, for right now, Leo forced himself to stay in the moment; it only really happened once he felt an elbow jab him in the forearm.

"Hey, _Space Cadet_, can we get a move on?" Raph impatiently asked. "If I stand here any longer my feet are gonna grow roots to the building."

Though it was tempting, Leo decided not to risk his physical health by asking Raph what time he expected to bloom. Although, it wasn't enough to scare away the ironic mental picture of a beautiful flower with Raph's angry face in the centre.

Leo shuddered as the image burned itself into his memory. All of a sudden, its comedic value wasn't as charming as before. He figured it would be for the better to get his team moving before they made any more snide remarks… or his mind brought him someplace _weirder_.

"Yeah. We're going."

His brothers verbalised their approval in turn and Donnie tucked his T-phone into his belt pocket..

Well, the approval of all except for _Mikey_, who decided to milk the newly forming bruise on his shoulder as much as possible.

"Hold up!" He called for the others, waiting for them to turn back. "My arm hurts. Raph threw me, like, _super _hard. Can I be excused?"

Leo and Raph exchanged a doubtful glance, but Donnie was already walking over towards him.

"I don't think it was _that _hard, but I take a look if-" He broke off suddenly, halting in his tracks. "Wait… is this about that new _video game _April got you?"

"... no…?" Mikey's eyes drifted to the ground.

But Donnie stared right back at him. "Really?" He asked, unimpressed. "You were hogging the TV for a whole _afternoon _playing the stupid thing."

"Hey! That game is _not _stupid!" Mikey shouted right back, thoroughly offended.

Leo sighed. "You're _fine_, Mikey. The game will _still _be there when we go back."

Mikey pouted.

Raph smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow, man! _Not _cool!" Mikey shielded himself with his arms, half retreating his head into his shell with a pout. "I didn't _do _anything! And now my arm _and _my _head _hurts!"

The red ninja smirked at the reaction.

Leo tried his best to nip the argument in the bud by walking over towards the edge of the building and gesturing for the others to follow. As long as he kept them _preoccupied_, there wouldn't be too much fighting… he hoped.

"Guys, just… _try _and stay focused." Leo pleaded, mapping out a trail along the rooftops. "The sooner we get started on the _East side_, the sooner we get _home_. Let's move."

* * *

Time: _1:27 a.m._

About half an hour remained for them to stake out the East portion of Manhattan.

And so far, it had gone rather well.

Better than the _start_ of their patrol, _that _was for sure.

Their rooftop run had been relatively undisturbed, and they swiftly bounded through the lively city unseen.

_Unknown_.

Like always.

Only once did Mikey over calculate how far he needed to leap in order to safely land onto the oncoming roof, resulting in him crashing directly into Donatello and nearly sending both of them plummeting into the alleyway several stories below.

Luckily, an open garbage dumpster would have broken their fall… probably.

Quick thinking from Leonardo and Raphael allowed the two younger turtles, precariously hanging onto the thin lip of the building, to _not _have a first hand experience in dumpster diving.

After they were back onto solid ground, Mikey received his _second_ smack to the head, and Leo desperately urged them on before a full scale feud would erupt… again.

Mikey was already shooting Raph death glares every time the other turtle turned his back on him, sometimes even sticking out his tongue and pulling down his eyelid as an insult.

From then on, their trip was taken in almost complete silence.

Eventually, they all halted on an old warehouse adjacent to an antique store, near Purple Dragon territory. They opted to wait there, both to catch their breath and to see if anything would happen.

It had been a slow Saturday night in terms of petty crime; it was only a matter of time before the temptation would give some poor soul the courage to break in.

But after about a minute of watching, Mikey's antics started right back up again. First, it was to complain he was starving. He emphasised this by collapsing onto the roof and curling into a feeble ball.

"_Pleeaaase _Leo! Can we get pizza?" Mikey begged, not making a move to get up. "I'm _dying _here! I had _nothing _to eat today!"

Leo could only glance over his shoulder, not wanting to take his gaze off the possible target just across the street. Still, he snuck a weary look over at Raph, only to find his attention was completely consumed by the human commotion on the far-more busier street behind them.

Another looked over toward his left showed that Donnie was more focused on his phone than a possible robbery.

That meant it was up to Leo.. as per usual.

"I thought you ate before we left the lair?" Leo wondered aloud, still looking at the building.

"No, actually, that was _soap_. He thought it was an ice-cream sandwich." Donnie put in, eyes still glued to the screen.

Immediately afterwards, Mikey's eyes shot daggers at the brother who ratted him out.

"Dude!" He shouted, scrambling onto his knees. "I thought we had each other's _backs-_"

Though he seemed as though he were about to scold the purple ninja, something caused him to suddenly pause. Leo guessed he was greatly reconsidering Donnie's words, and was proven right when Mikey's face contorted into an expression of absolute disgust.

"Wait, you mean that _wasn't…_"

"No, we're _not _getting pizza. Not now," Leo interrupted sternly before Mikey could fully comprehend what he had done. The leader waited, motionless, for his stamina to build back up.

Ten minutes had passed already.

Ten, long and slow minutes.

They still had about ten _more_ before they'd have to head back home.

"No sign of any street gangs so far," He sighed to himself, a hint of disappointment hidden in his tone. His eyes scanned over the brightly lit city.

_Bummer. I never thought I'd __**miss **__fighting the Purple Dragons… even if they were pretty __**lame… **_

He gazed over at his team, realising with a shiver just how much the thugs and rouge mutants of the city had shaped their lives.

Before, it had been a _miracle _to return home with no scratches or gouges. But now, without these low-lives, it had become a _challenge _to attain any injuries. And though Leo was quite thankful for this change, in a way, it also symbolised the end of an era.

He wasn't sure whether it was nostalgia or the itching urge to bust some stupid thugs that made him feel this way.

Without the Purple Dragons, Shredder, Tiger Claw or even those damned Kraang freaks, there really was _nothing _to spice up their patrol.

Donnie had returned to staring blankly at his T-phone, squinting against the stark brightness while Mikey tried his best to suppress the nausea flooding his system. And Raph…?

Leo sighed.

Raph was getting more like a live grenade everyday, where any contact whatsoever could result in an explosion of either physical violence or a torrential storm of colourful words. With the tides changing, Leo sometimes wished that Master Splinter hadn't chosen him to be leader.

Though the thought _was_ a bit selfish, he couldn't help but feel his role as leader grew more and more demanding every day. Especially with his brothers acting like they were _fifteen_ all over again...

_What I wouldn't give for a day off… _Leo fantasised, all while absent-mindedly staring at the place where Raph had stationed himself.

Wait...

Something felt... _off _all of a sudden.

Leo blinked once and narrowed his eyes, noticing that _something _had changed about the scenery.

It took him a moment to realise the problem.

The place where Raph was- no, _had _been standing was now… _empty_.

Leo felt his pulse skyrocket.

* * *

End Chapter One


	3. Chapter 2

**((A.N. - Revised chapter two. Not my favourite chapter, but it's necessary to the plot. Hope you enjoy!))**

* * *

Leonardo swore his throat collapsed, gaze falling upon the empty space where Raph had previously been standing. The simple task of breathing suddenly become unbelievably difficult as vacant, static air filled his vision.

_Raph's… **not** here? He's… **where** is he? Where…? Where…?!_

Leo scanned the surroundings, turning his entire body around for a better view of the roof, hoping his shell had partially obscured his vision.

It hadn't.

Raph was _missing_ and he hadn't even _noticed_ it!

'_So much for being __**leader**__, Leo!'_

"Raph?" Leonardo hesitantly called out into the midnight air. His voice sounded surprisingly stern despite his ever-increasing panic.

_I __**have **__to remain calm… _He scolded himself, eyes darting between where Raph had been and his remaining brothers; their heads perked up, confused.

_I __**have **__to be calm. Breathe… **breathe** and **don't** startle the others into a panic. It won't do any good if we're __**all **__freaking out..._

When there was no reply he tried again.

"_Raphael_?" Unlike before, he felt his voice shake.

Leo risked a glance over at his remaining team; Donnie was watching him, occasionally twisting his head around and slipped his phone back into his belt pocket. Mikey seemed to have forgotten about cleansing his palate, pushing himself up onto steady feet.

He glanced around. "Where's Raph?" The youngest asked softly, more to himself than any of the others; but one look at Leo's face told him all he needed to know.

The two remaining ninjas caught onto the situation at hand, and soon, the vacant air was filled with the sound of the them hollering their missing brother's name.

The atmosphere slowly became more and more constricting as the seconds slipped away and morphed into minutes.

One.

Then two.

Then three.

Leo was past the point of caring whether he'd wake up the entire city shouting for his brother. Only a few years ago would _this _be an action of _immediate_ discipline, as their enemies lurked within every shadow, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

But them, along with the rest of Shredder's goons, were all lost to the past, and right now, Leo's sole priority was locating the brother who had slipped away. And though Oroku Saki no longer prowled within the city, it was the mental image of a captured Raphael that drove the leader to terrible conclusions.

The blue ninja drew in a deep breath, and just as he got through the first syllable of Raph's full forename, there was a sudden and familiar sound that made him instantly freeze in his tracks.

The words died on his tongue as he listened.

"_Hey_!"

The three remaining brothers looked at each other in synchronised surprise, mouths still slightly open from yelling.

A million scenarios ran through Leo's panicked mind, but by the greater forces beyond his control, the present involved _none_ of them. He mentally thanked his lucky stars, quickly racing over toward where the sound had come from.

There was no need to tell the others to follow; they were already right on his heels.

And then -

"I'm down _here_, ya boneheads, _jeez_!" The temperamental turtle's voice exasperatedly whisper-shouted from below the warehouse's ledge. Suddenly, a three-fingered hand poked up from over the lip, waving slightly as if it were gesturing the others to come closer.

"Ya make so much _noise_! Probably woke up _half _the damn city. Gimme a second…"

Whether it was Raph's intention of summoning his brothers or not, Leo quickly followed what he believed was an order and crouched down by the edge of the building, carefully peering over the edge. It felt rather… _strange _to be carrying out a demand rather than giving one, but the pressure of getting to Raph outweighed the wonder of what it was like to be a follower.

And as Leo quickly averted his gaze to the edge of the rooftop, a single word manifested in his mind: _Bingo_.

The overwhelming sensation of relief made Leo exhale the breath he had unknowingly been holding. And as the fear diminished, Leo's first immediate thought was to discipline his brother for running off without telling him.

Still, he forced it away; he figured that a _scolding_ could wait until _after _Raph explained what he had been up to.

The red-masked turtle hauled himself up onto the roof before Leo could even think about offering any assistance. He was panting slightly, rubbing his elbow.

His plastron looked a bit more... _scruffed_ than before. The new injuries, as minor as they were, did _not_ go unnoticed.

"Dude, what were you _doing_? Spyin' into some ladies bathroom?" Mikey's bout of laughter was cut short when Donnie hit him across the arm with a scowl.

Ignoring the youngest's immature humour, Leo narrowed his eyes against the increasing darkness of Raph's own.

He seemed to be waiting for the leader to make the first move, his unchanging expression holding a mix between intimidation and genuine anger.

What could have _possibly _possessed Raph to just _bail _on them? He was impulsive, _yes_, but not so much as to flat-out _ditch _them without a word of warning beforehand!

These concerns were voiced without so much as a second thought.

"Raph, where did you _go_?_" _Leo demanded. "I thought something _got_ you! What happened to asking your leader for _permission_ before going flying off on your own?"

Raph seemed to be taken slightly aback at the hostility in his leader's voice, but it only lasted a moment. Instead, his older brother's tone only seemed to add gallons of gasoline onto Raph's ever-burning fire of pent-up anger.

"_What_? Forget _that_!" He retaliated. "I just stopped a mugging while you guys took a freakin' _coffee _break! I thought that's what we were _here_ for! You got your eye on that _shop_ over there!"

Leo gritted his teeth together at the excuse. "Raph, that store is _out_ of the public's sight unless they come down _this_ road. Do- do you see how many people are over _there_? It's like a _main_ street! You could have been _seen! _You could have gotten _caught-" _

"But I wasn't, fear_full!"_

It only took a quick second for Leo's blood to boil at the sound of his nickname being twisted in such a humiliating way.

Raph seemed to have a retort at the ready before even being accused; he didn't give Leo time to respond, instead averting the blue-masked turtle's attention away by pointing down to the street.

His finger was aimed toward what Leo could make out as two police officers holding down a man in the mouth of an alleyway below. There was a third officer, standing closer toward busy street, handing the stolen object, a purse, back to its rightful owner.

Leo watched the scene for a short while, eyes hardened in concentration until it no longer interested him. He turned back, clearly unimpressed.

"That was a _trivial crime_, Raph." Leo folded his arms across his chest. "Besides, the police could have handled it. Look, they're handling it now!"

"Only 'cause _I _went down there an' roughed that dude up a bit so the cops could catch him!" Raph shouted right back. "Are you _seriously_ hearing yourself right now? You wanted to _stop_ a robbery, too, man! Besides, that guy had a freakin' _pistol _or some shit!"

Leo's eyes widened. "Th-then that was even a _bigger _reason to not go down! You could have gotten _shot_! We're used to fighting _Kraang _weapons, not _actual _guns! And that was _one_ person, Raph. _One_ person. We can't protect everyone_ individually,_ there's, like, eight _million_ of them!"

It was then Raph leaned in a bit closer, baring his teeth until a small portion of his gum line showed, as though he were an animal on the verge of attacking.

Though he did not dare express the notion, Leo found the gesture rather amusing, especially when considering their reptilian heritage. But those thoughts faded into dust once he noticed Raph's hands had balled themselves into tight, angry fists, hovering directly over his sai.

_Sharp_, gleaming sai.

" '_I thought you wanted to be a __**hero**_._ Since when do __**heroes **__ask for permission?'_," Raph patronised, sending a rush of bitter nostalgia up Leo's spine. "Why don't ya stop _breathing _down our necks every second of the day and start bustin' crime. That's what we _do_. Not little_ tea parties_ on the rooftops every time we _feel _like it. Besides, nothin' was going on over at your little _antique_ store, and I'm dying for some action."

Leo took a step back.

Frustration radiated from his face, eyes narrowed into slits. Without realising, he risked a quick glance over at his two younger brothers, who found a better deal in keeping out of heated arguments and staying on the sidelines.

Usually, they only stepped in once things cooled down hours later, and with this knowledge, Leo knew it was up to him to put an end to the verbal skirmish so their return to the lair would be sooner rather than later.

He returned his attention to Raph and let out a breath. '_Keep it __**together**__. Don't let him get to you, Leo. You're not doing anything wrong. You're keeping them __**safe**__.'_

"We're on the move."

Raph's expression fell and went totally blank for a solid second.

"What?" He sputtered out, shock finally registering along with his older brother's words. "You- you have _nothing _to say about this? Do you _want _gangs to take over the city? _Our _city?" He gestured to the alleyway again, but it went unheeded, as Leo was already turning away toward the advancing rooftops.

"I said, we're on the move." Leo repeated, his voice holding a shred of genuine agitation which he had previously attempted to repress. As he scanned the rooftops, his eyes involuntarily drifted back down into the alleyway, catching sight of the man being escorted into a police car.

He scrunched up his nose. '_These people couldn't take over our city if they tried.'_

"If you want, Raph, you can stay out all night beating up guys who aren't worth our time."

* * *

"Hey Leo, do you _really _think what you did back there was… y'know… _justified_?"

Leo didn't slow his pace at the sound of his genius brother's inquiry. He _had _been anticipating some sort of backlash from the others; he had lost his patience, after all.

No _proper _leader would do so.

The whole experience left him with a nothing more than a bitter taste in his mouth, and while Raph had stormed off, apparently taking Leo's words to heart, the sensation of failure remained.

Leo _loathed _that aftertaste, the taste of falling through_, _and in the back of his mind, he wondered whether Mikey's tactic from earlier would do him any good.

As humorous as the thought was, the leader had no time to dwell on the past; he had to focus, continue running, continue leaping from building to building, ducking, grabbing, rolling and landing perfectly.

Mikey was to his immediate right, his movements unbalanced and wild, while Donnie, straggling a bit behind on his left, had sacrificed a graceful landing to ask his question.

"Yea, bro, Raph seemed _really _ticked off." Mikey put in as he narrowly missed a TV antenna. He rolled onto his back and somersaulted onto the oncoming roof.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just _maybe_, you're getting carried away with this new _safety_ stuff, Leo? You _are_ leader and all, but… lately you're acting kinda _obsessed _with that role."

The sentence seemed incomplete, as though Donatello had intended to add more, but decided against it at the last second.

Leo's mind floundered for a response. Whenever he could on their rushed trip home, the leader wondered what _he_ could have done differently…and what _Raph _could have done differently so that their argument might have gone smoother.

"I'm _responsible_ for this team. If Raph had gotten _hurt_, it'd be _my _fault for not knowing where he was." Leo replied truthfully. "_Master Splinter_ would have known what to do... it would have been _better_ than what_ I_ did."

"You're still on that whole _I'm not as good as sensei _thing? Dude, you need to stop trying to be _Splinter Jr_. That routine is getting old." Mikey suddenly commented, his voice lacking its usual playful and juvenile, if not immature, innocence.

Sure, none of them were fifteen anymore, and it had been nearly four years since their first trip to the surface world, but Mikey was still the _only_ brother who found happiness in childish things: comic books, playing with action figures, watching TV and skateboarding.

And while Leo still tuned in to the occasion Space Heroes rerun, it was still rather concerning to hear Mikey, their baby brother, giving advice.

Whether it was the _tone _the orange ninja had donned or the _accusation _itself, Leo hesitated, which in turn affected his footing. His right foot slipped by accident, nearly sending him straight off of the rooftop once more.

Once the shock and embarrassment passed, leaving him with nothing more than the rhythmic sounds of their faint footfalls, he blamed it on his lack of focus.

And yet, he still replied anyway. "I'm trying to keep everyone _safe_, Mikey, that's all. Nothing _more_, nothing _less_. It's what I've _been _doing since we were little. If Raph needs to be alone for a little bit and cool off, then let him."

To his surprise, Leo swore he caught Mikey rolling his eyes in disbelief. But had the leader turned his head to check, he would have ran directly into a TV antenna.

Instead, Leo focused once more on his leaping, rolling, balancing.

'_Raph just needs to blow off some steam. Heck, maybe__** I **__do, too. But he'll come back. We just need to keep our distance for a little while… just a little while…'_

* * *

End Chapter Two


	4. Chapter 3

**((A.N. - New version of chapter three. **

**I'm going to be shortening the next few chapters just because I feel they are WAY too long. So if you're new or re-reading this, the next few chapters may still be unfinished or in the process of being edited. Please keep that in mind.)) **

* * *

"_Freakin'_ Leo and his _freakin' _rules and shit…"

The complaints spewed forth, one after the other like a fountain.

"Such a _pain _in the shell… always blamin' _me… _"

Someone seemed to have left the metaphorical faucet running, thus allowing Raphael's seething bitterness toward the aforementioned brother reach its boiling point.

His fists roughly collided with Casey's old, stitched-up punching bag, every strike causing the stand to creak and groan in discomfort. It definitely wasn't all that sturdy, especially not like the one in the lair, but it held up durably enough to withstand the fuming turtle's assault as he rode out his frustrations.

"He always tries to be _Splinter Jr. _Probably 'cause _he's _always been Splinter's _favourite_. Can't believe he's _still _holdin' onto that freakin' mentality."

Raph wound back his arm, a growl bubbling in his throat. '_If only I had a little picture of Leo's __**stupid face **__on this thing.'_

_Thud. _

"And he _always _has t' push us around like he's _better_. But then he turns around and tells us to '_stay in the shadows_' and all that shit, like _all _those goons are smart enough to mug people in the alleyways."

His voice rang through the room.

Casey winced, wishing Raph would lower his voice.

At least a _little_.

But he partially blamed himself.

When the red ninja had arrived, Casey had explained that his parents were held up in some traffic, while his younger sister was spending the night at a friend's house. This meant the apartment virtually _theirs _for a little while.

But what that _didn't _mean was Raph being allowed to totally blow a gasket. What if a _neighbour _complained about all the shouting? Or someone decided to call the freaking _police_?

Casey knew he'd have to take the blame for Raph's behaviour, lest reveal to his parents he allowed someone during the dead of night.

But he couldn't seem to find a chance to tell the turtle about the issue he was creating: Raph didn't ever _stop talking_.

'_Doesn't he need to __**breathe**__?' _Casey joked in his head, trying to calm his own nerves.

"He's gotten _soft_! He doesn't wanna keep this city in _check_!"

_Thud. _

"I _bet _he'll even stop doin' _patrols _eventually. Just you _watch_. We'll be _stuck _down there twenty four seven. 'cause of him."

_Thud._

Raph's clenched hand slammed square into the hard bag, the momentum sending it swinging a few feet into the air. As it began its descending trip, he readied himself to hit it again, grinding his upper teeth against his lower ones.

"It's all about being _safe _nowadays!"

_Thud. _

Casey winced at his volume, sitting with his back facing Raph and trying to re-tape his splintering hockey stick. _**'Please **__shut up. I will get __**grounded **__if you don't __**shut up**_**'**.

Though it was an option, screaming over top of Raph _didn't _seem like the best way to get him to quiet down.

It would probably make things _worse_.

Ever since he had become friends with Raph, anger issues and all, Casey had grown rather used to all the overreactions. He was all for listening to his problems, but when things got _this _bad, he tended to wait until the turtle blew off some steam.

However, when things got _this _bad, they usually weren't in his _apartment_. Equally as unfortunately, it was, as stated before, the _dead _of _night_.

People were trying to _sleep_, and Casey could not imagine that Raph's angry complaints substituted well as _background _noise.

Still, Casey could understand where he was coming from: losing all the decent street gangs was a harsh blow to their daily lives.

And personally, Casey knew that without _them _to mess around with, there was really _nothing _that could inflate his ego as much as cracking skulls, and he was certain the red ninja felt the same way.

But _that _little patch of common ground couldn't cover up the fact Casey was just plain _awful _at voicing empathy.

'_Bro, I get what you're goin' through, but you should know I'm __**not **__the guy to come to for advice. My best bet is to just suck it up and __**deal **__with it, man. I mean, this isn't the __**first **__time you and Leo have __**freaked **__out over something'…'_

Casey paused with his work, glancing over his shoulder at Raph for a moment. He wondered whether he'd received a similar treatment as the punching bag for telling the angry turtle to '_suck it up_' and _'deal with it_'.

Again, probably not the _best _option.

On the bright side, Raph seemed as though he had _finally _gotten the worst of his anger out; he hadn't really spoken in a little while, just lightly panting and muttering under his breath.

Then, all of a sudden, he sat down on the edge of Casey's bed and stared at the ground, rubbing his knuckles.

The vigilante decided to risk it. '_How many more __**teeth **__do I have left to __**lose **__anyway?_'

He turned himself around, leaving the hockey stick discarded on his desk and tossing the roll of duct tape onto the floor.

'_Don't mess this up, Jones.'_

"I get it, dude, _totally_. Especially the part about the streets bein' _super _boring. And Leo is…"

He paused. It wasn't that he didn't _like _Leo, but the two never really interacted much outside of a leader/follower relationship.

If _that_.

He… _respected _Leo as a leader. _Somewhat_.

But Casey had a feeling Raph wouldn't be on board with his opinion with the current state he was in.

"... he's being kind of a _jerk_."

"When _isn't _he?" An immediate reply.

"Uh… has your… _rat dad _said anything about it?" Casey asked, slouching over.

But Raph only grunted as a response, indicated he either didn't know or didn't care to know.

Most likely both.

Casey nodded carefully, trying to keep Raph's anger from bursting out of control again.

On any other day, he wouldn't particularly mind, but since they were stuck together in his tiny, New York apartment, he'd decided to keep the chances of Raph punching a hole through the wall at a minimum.

'_But… I __**can't **__just ask him to __**leave**__, he'll __**kill **__me. Probably.' _The human boy drew in a quick breath. '_Oh, __**jeez**__. I've never been good at solving problems like __**this**__, man! I just __**punch **__things 'til they go away, I can't __**talk **__things through! Where's __**April **__when you need her?'_

Casey looked over at him, mouth suddenly dry as he tried to think up what _April _would do in a similar situation. '_Uh, probably be __**honest **__or whatever. Okay, __**easy **__enough.'_

"Why do you still hang around those guys if they keep _pushing _your buttons like that? I mean, you're _always _complain' about stuff they do. Why not just... _quit_ or somethin'?"

For a few seconds, the question lingered heavily in the static air.

Casey, who could truthfully admit he was _not _the smartest person on the planet, felt his heart begin to beat faster when he became vaguely aware of the murderous glare an already ticked-off Raphael was shooting him-

'**Wait-'**

"Casey_, _are you _serious? _Have you even been _listening _to me?_"_ The red-clad ninja demanded harshly, stiffing up into a rigid, upright position as the awkward tension morphed into vexation.

Casey sunk back into his chair, biting his bottom lip. '_Dude, April's idea was __**terrible**__!'_

"As much as they hold me back sometimes, they're still my _brothers!_ I'm not just gonna turn my back on _all _of them 'cause of that _one idiot_, Leo, I'm gonna be there to set him _straight_." Suddenly, his tone softened. "He… he _isn't _acting like the brother_ I_ know, and I don't know _what's _gotten into him. Leo wouldn't let _Shredder_ or any of those stupid _mutants_ get to him _this_ bad... there's somethin' _else_ goin' on."

Casey didn't speak for a moment. _Couldn't_.

"I- I shouldn't have said it like _that_, Raph. Sorry." He apologized genuinely. "I just figured that… that if Leo's _bugging _you that much, maybe you should, y'know, start patrolin' on your _own _or somethin'. N- not forever, just for a little while, 'til he gets straightened out. You'd go by your _own _rules out there, following no one but _yourself."_

Raph's enraged face slowly contorted into something more thoughtful.

"I… ugh, I dunno, man. That's… _not _a good idea. It's _ideal, _yeah, but… remember the whole Spi- _Slash _thing? My brothers almost _died _because I went off on my own. I don't _ever _want to do something _that _stupid again."

Suddenly, he drug his hands down his face and groaned. "Damn it, I'm saying _that_, and look what I did anyway. I ran off. I _always_ do."

"At least there's no _mutant_ after them this time," Casey put in. "_That's_ a plus."

Raph's voice was surprisingly mellow compared to what it had been only a minute before. "Yeah, I… guess. But _still_... I probably _shouldn't _have done that. Then again, Leo shouldn't have gotten so freakin' _pissy _with me in the _first _place."

He then pushed himself to his feet, moving to face the punching bag again; he cracked his knuckles in preparation.

"Whatever. I'm done worryin' about that. About _him_. I'm sure Leo knows he's gone too far by _now_. It's only a matter of time before they get home and Splinter smacks the _truth _into him. Then he'll start _begging _us to forgive-"

A sudden noise cut him off.

The familiar ringtone his genius brother had installed onto all their T-Phones played loudly through the speaker, demanding their attention.

Casey kept silent, pretending as though he wasn't in the room while Raph impatiently dug out the phone from his belt. With just one look at the screen, it was more than enough to tell him who had interrupted him, and a twisted smile appeared on his face.

"Well, speak of the devil," Raph patronized in an almost sing-songy voice, turning the screen to face his friend. Casey squinted as he leaned forward in his seat to try and make out the picture.

"It's that _soft-shell_, Mr. _Perfect_, coming to say _hi_."

Contrary to the eagerness he felt at the thought of chewing his brother out, Raph swiftly declined the call.

"If Leo wants to _talk _things through with me, he better not think I'd do it over the _freakin' _phone." He carelessly placed the electronic device face-down onto the bed without so much as a second thought.

He crossed his arms and scoffed. "What a _coward_, can't even talk to me face-to-face."

Casey shrugged. "I mean, not like he knows where you-"

The eight-bit ringtone played again.

The two stared at it in surprise; the ninja scooped up the gadget.

It was Leo. _Again_.

"What? Honestly, doesn't he get the _point_?" Raph snarled, thumb already hovering expectantly over the decline button.

Immediately following, another call was forwarded.

Casey had to muffle his laugh with his hand; Raph didn't exactly share his feelings toward the bombardment.

"Are you kidding-? Now _Donnie's _callin' me too. Wonderful. Those _clowns _are gonna keep this up for an _hour_."

He angrily mashed the _decline _function. "I'm _not _in the mood for this. They _better _know-"

Suddenly, Casey's amusement turned into unease. "Wait, dude. What if it's an _emergency _or something's up?"

Straightening up in the seat, the vigilante reached behind him and placed a hand on his newly-taped hockey stick. "I could use a bit of _danger_. The bad guys in this city have gotten pretty _lame_, so it'd be nice to finally get some competition."

But Raph only shook his head.

"Nah, it's nothin'." He said confidently. "Mikey would have blown up my inbox with about a _billion_ texts if it was. Besides, all he's said so far is '_hi_' and '_what you up to_'. Pretty casual stuff."

He then shut down both his phone and Casey's notion, tossing the device onto the bed once more.

"And even if there _was _any danger, I highly doubt _Leo _would actually let us fight. Y'know, cause we _might _get a few _scratches_."

This time, the turtle half-spoke half-laughed his comment, thick sarcasm dripping like venom from his tone.

He crossed his arms over his plastron and stared out into the bright, fluorescent city through Casey's window, like he expected his leader to be watching him from the rooftop of a nearby building.

Raph scoffed again. "We might have to use our _weapons_ for once. Can you _imagine_?"

"Pssh! Maybe you might even break a _nail_," Casey put in before he could stop himself, emphasizing his agreement by breaking character to flamboyantly wiggle his fingers out in front of him.

It was quite the accomplishment when he heard Raph chuckle.

'_Okay, he's in a __**bit **__of a better mood, I __**guess…' **_He didn't let the opportunity pass him by.

"Well, how 'bout we head out?" Casey energetically suggested out of the blue, already reaching to collect his newly repaired hockey stick and mask.

Raph watched, his interest in the punching bag growing more and more distant as Casey geared up.

The human vigilante slipped on his gloves. "You up for it? To get your mind off your _mom?_ Besides, we can patrol the city _ourselves_. We don't need Leo."

Raph grinned.

Sure, staying holed up and throwing himself a _pity party_ was occasionally the only option, but now there was a choice in the matter.

And patrolling the city with someone who wasn't afraid to pull punches was _tremendously_ superior in every way possible.

Better yet, no Leo to _patronize _him.

Without hesitating, Raph stood up, giving his friend a light sock to the shoulder as he chuckled:

"I thought you'd _never _ask."

* * *

"_Hey, this is Raph. I can't talk right now, but I might get back to you later… or something. Bye." _

Click.

Leonardo hung up before he was forced to leave a message.

Over the years of being a leader, he had learned through trial and error that there were some things he couldn't do no matter how hard he tried: from trying to push himself beyond what he could stand, like at the farmhouse, or taking on an entire _fleet _of angry dinosaur-like aliens… or the current situation.

Getting a hold of a missing, stubborn and irritated Raphael, Leo realised, was leagues easier to _say_ than actually _do_.

With a groan, he backed out of what felt like the _millionth _call since he and his brothers reached the mouth of the lair.

Though his patience was depleting, Leo could not bring himself to waltz into his home with a brother _missing_.

The very thought of the _disappointment _he'd cause to his _father_, mixed with his own instincts _refusing _to do _anything _until he knew Raph was alright, were at a tug of war with the limited options he was presented with.

But the mission to simply get in _touch _with the hothead grew more and more futile by the second; his ears were constantly greeted by Raph's pre-recorded answering machine, and the thought of throwing his phone to the floor grew increasingly more tempting.

The last shred of hope Leo clung onto was the possibility that Raph would finally snap and pick up, even if it was only to demand that he stop being bombarded with calls.

_Any _kind of reaction from the missing turtle to prove he wasn't in danger would be better than _nothing _at all, and Leo was beginning to lose his mind over hearing the same message over and over and over again.

'_Raph, the __**least **__you could do is quit acting like such a __**child **__and __**answer**__! C'mon, man!'_

A new voice wormed its way into Leo's otherwise occupied mind.

"_Leeeeoooo_. Can we go home now? _Pleeeaase_?" Mikey pleaded, laying with his plastron against the cold, solid concrete ground, just a hair away from where the subway platform dipped downwards toward the tracks. "I'm tired of playing these bootleg app games. I've beaten this really crappy rip-off of Tetris, like, _five_ times."

As upset as he sounded to be stuck just outside their home, so incredibly close to the TV, he barely made any move to get up; his thumbs raced nimbly over the screen of his phone and his tongue peaked out from the corner of his mouth as he concentrated on the cheap game.

"Not yet, Mikey. Trust me, Raph will pick up eventually." Leo lied through his teeth, and the knowledge that his brother probably wouldn't made his stomach flip in self disgust.

'_Raph…! Answer! You __**love **__proving me __**wrong**__! Prove me wrong and __**pick up**__!'_

A few seconds later, there was a sigh to his right.

"Leo, you've been trying to get in touch with Raph for over_ ten minutes_." Donatello told him in a drained voice, almost as though he were making a rebuttal toward the leader's inner comment.

He remained motionless, leaning against the old, cracked concrete wall next to the gaping mouth of the lair's entrance. With arms crossed over his chest, his hands gripped his biceps tighter with every word, as though his posture was competing with his attitude.

Both raidated impatience.

"Just give it a _rest_. If Raph didn't pick up _before_, he's not gonna do it _now_. You of all people should know how he gets."

"I know, I _know_… just… let me try _one _more time…" Leo stalled.

There wasn't any practical reason to argue against his younger brother's logic, yet the leader still resumed with his failing mission.

Donnie glowered as his leader dialed up Raph's number; he held the phone up to his ear slit, forefinger plugging the other to avoid becoming distracted.

"I can text him again if you want, bro." Mikey offered from where he lay near the edge of the platform, though he now rested on his carapace, holding his phone a few inches from his nose. He sounded far too detached from his body to actually be of any use, completely preoccupied with the video game he had started to cope with Leo's stubbornness.

"He didn't reply to my first two, but I'm pretty sure he saw them. I asked him how he's-"

Suddenly, his voice raised into a shout. "Aw! I almost beat my high-"

"_Mikey_! Be quiet!" The leader snapped sternly at his baby brother.

There was no time in between the action for him to even catch a quick glimpse of the surprised look on Mikey's face; but the orange ninja seemed to forget about the denial once the video game absorbed him once again.

_'Please… Raph… __**talk **__to me!' _Suddenly, almost as though answering the pleads within his head, there was a voice on the other end:

"_Hey, this is Raph. I can't talk right-" _

Click.

Heart sinking, Leo hung up before he could hear the message again, throwing his arm back down to his side. The phone almost slipped from his hand in the process.

He exhaled deeply, loudly, but immediately regretted the action when he received an almost smug glare from the genius turtle; he hadn't meant to make his failure so obvious.

"You done?" Donnie questioned with no real interest in hearing Leo's response; it was more than clear the answer was already a definite _yes_. He paused, watching as the other turtle lowered his gaze to the floor, gnawing on his lower lip as reality sunk in.

But all of a sudden, the satisfied look on Donnie's face morphed into sympathy.

Upon noticing how distraught his leader looked, the purple ninja swallowed thickly, and abandoned his place by the wall. He slowly walked up to the discouraged turtle and gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

He gave it a slight shake, as though trying to snap Leo out of his miserable little world. '_Leo, you need to __**pull **__yourself __**together**__. Raph has __**always **__been like this… you can't __**possibly **__be just __**now **__noticing… ugh, this needs to get __**done **__with… I have an __**experiment **__to work on!'_

"Leo, you _know _that when Raph's mad, he wants as _little _contact with whatever made him mad in the first place. _Usually_. I mean, sometimes he just hits it-" Donnie hesitated. "But, in this case, he's mad at _you_. You guys just need space."

Leo glanced up at his taller brother in almost an embarrassment manner.

"I… I _know _that. I'll _give _him the space he needs, I _never _said I _wouldn't_. But… I'm just worried. He ran off, and I have no idea where he is… he's _my _responsibility and Splinter will be demanding where he is if I go in there empty-handed." He pointed toward the entrance of the lair. "I… look, if he _won't _listen to me, maybe you two can try getting through to him."

Donnie, rather taken aback by the request, didn't respond right away. Similarly, Michelangelo continued to play his game, too immersed to even pay attention to his outside environment.

Leo watched their unmoving figures until his patience ultimately broke, causing him to scoff.

"Some help you guys are." Once more, he began to plug in the digits necessary to call their missing brother. He wasn't even halfway through before being interrupted by a rather irritated-looking Donatello.

Whether it had been Leo's lack of confidence in them, or the fact they'd be stuck outside their home for the rest of the night unless someone talked some sense into him, Donnie finally caved.

"You know what? _Fine_. But I'm telling you now, this _won't _work."

Despite following his leader's demands, he appeared anything but happy to do so.

He impatiently retrieved his T-phone and dialled up his brother.

A deathly silence followed, only broken by the repetitive ringing emitted from the speaker as it waited for the second party to pick up on the other end.

After seven rings, Raph's voice finally filled the subway tunnel:

"_Hey, this is Raph. I can't talk right now-" _Donnie held the phone slightly away from his head to let Leo hear the exact same message he had grown to detest, all the while giving the blue masked ninja an _'I told you so' _glare from the corner of his eye.

With a groan, a mix between pure disappointment and irritation, Leo brought his hands up to face and dragged them down roughly, as though he were attempting to wake himself up.

"Leo, I know you don't want anything to happen to Raph, but he's _not _stupid enough to get himself caught."

Donnie's attempt at comforting his leader quickly turned south when he received a look of disbelief. He gritted his teeth together once he realised what he had said. "Okay, listen, he's stupid enough to do _a lot _of things, but the Purple Dragons and their wanna-be goons have been gone for _months _now, so how much trouble can he _really _get into?"

Sighing, Leo shook his head, internally addressing the possibility.

"Maybe you're right. I'm… kind of treating all you guys like little _kids _lately… I…"

'_I am __**not **__trying to undervalue you. I want to keep you guys __**out **__of harm's way because eventually something bad __**will **__happen, just like __**this**__, and Raph will storm off and I'll be __**responsible **__for __**anything **__afterwards…'_

His mouth couldn't seem to form the words fast enough, but it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway; Donnie cut him off.

"I know _that_ look, and don't even _try _to start with a sappy monologue. I know you want to talk to Raph, but let him cool off first. You know as well as I do that he'd call us if there was trouble."

He paused for a second and his expression softened. He sighed heavily, shaking his head while muttering quietly under his breath.

Then, he turned back towards Leo. "But… I can tell you're not gonna let this go until you get some closure… and I _seriously _need to get to the lab, so… if you _really _want to know where he is, I can check his coordinance on my GPS tracker."

Leo stared up at him, dumbfounded. _'Are you… are you serious? Why… why haven't you __**tried **__that already? _

"Go ahead," He urged enthusiastically.

An unimpressed look was his first reply. "Promise you won't go after him if I tell you?"

"Don, if you have a _tracker_ in _Raph's_ phone, I'm sure you have one in _mine_, too." Leo responded sternly. "You'll be able to see whether_ I_ go after him or not. And besides..."

It wasn't like he actually _was _going to _stalk _his brother… but knowing his location would take a huge weight off of his shoulders.

"You said it yourself: how much trouble could he _possibly _get into?"

"True," Donnie muttered, finally breaking. He booted up the program and turned the screen toward Leo.

"Don't know how much you'll _like_ this, but... he's over at Casey's apartment."

* * *

The city was absent of any unusual commotion, mostly thanks to the disappearance of the mutants under Shredder's control.

New York's famous, unrelenting buzz of vehicles, tires and people had slightly dialed down to something more tolerant, especially when compared to the evening disturbance of rush hour.

Still, a few souls dared to be out: some sped past in their cars, desperate to get home, while a few unfortunate others wandered aimlessly, wondering what crevice would serve as their temporary home for the night.

The hours bled freely into the early morning, though time did little to deter the two vigilantes.

Their footfalls were easily overpowered by the noise below, the screeching tires and roaring engines working much to their advantage.

But, it probably wouldn't have mattered much: their trip remained, regrettably, without any signs of gangs or turmoil altogether. It was clear all of the Purple Dragons in this part of Manhattan had indeed fled or were hiding low… for some reason.

The streets were, to the point of maddening, quiet and inconspicuous. The alleyways remained uneventful while Shredder's old lair no longer stood shrouded in its cloak of darkness.

Ever since Karai had taken control over the Foot Clan and eliminated all robots from the ranks, the possibility of using them as training dummies vanished.

In a way, without the previously Shredder-controlled Foot Soldiers, patrolling no longer had the same level of excitable risk.

'What I wouldn't give for a nice, little bank robbery…' Raph fanitized, easily leaping over a particular large gap in between two buildings.

As he landed safely onto the oncoming rooftop, duking into a roll to avoid experiencing ground shock, Casey was already at his side, doing the same.

It was the sight of his friend, already right on his heels, which gave the red clad turtle a slight start; it truly was a miracle at how fast he had improved since they first met.

Sure, Casey was still far too impulsive for his own good and would rather goof around and taunt his opponent, but his amateur style of fighting had been whittled down over the years into something much more refined, more effective.

This was clearly an upgrade for the whole team; finally Casey was using his skills to their maximum potential.

Yet, this change had yet to let up on giving Raph chills of nostalgia and worry that their days of stupid, immature crime-busting were over.

'Maybe they are. Especially 'cause no one seems to be causing any trouble, anymore'

At least Casey's overconfident attitude and sense of humour had stood the test of time, along with the fact he still wasn't as fast as Raph… at least, not naturally.

With the use of roller skate wheels he kept strapped to the undersides of his shoes, he glided alongside the turtle with little trouble.

'And to think he used to have a hard time keepin' up.' Raph recalled, watching his friend from the corner of his peripheral vision.

Had Leo been there, he would have undoubtedly scolded Raph for allowing something so trivial distract him. He swore he could almost hear his older brother's voice telling him how awful his form appeared, how he was being careless.

'Watch the rooftops, Raph.'

In a twist of irony, it was this exact carelessness toward his surroundings which led Raph to nearly slam into the large, oncoming ventilation system.

'Wait… what?

"Woah-!"

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, and barely even thinking, he made a forward flip over the obstacle and landed on the other side, unharmed. His form had been sloppy.

_Egregious_, even.

'Yeah, yeah, not as good as you, Mr. Perfect, I know.'

"Your mask on _backwards_, Raph?" Casey mocked, seemingly unfazed by the near-collision and taking the opportunity of Raph's fumble to get further along ahead. "I know animals don't live long, but your eyes can't be quitten' out on ya yet!"

Raph smirked as he regained his balance, already proceeding to quicken his pace in order to reach his taunting friend.

"Ya got something' wrong there, Casey," The ninja informed him, leaping over another shady alleyway. "From what Donnie's stupid nature documentaries have been pounding into my brain, turtles can live to be over one hundred. And guess what?"

Casey humoured him. "What?"

Raph grinned. "I'm not even halfway there."

There was a laugh from ahead, and Casey slowed down. "Yeah, I'm sure you won't get to thirty before some old lady beats you to death with her purse or somethin'!"

"You crazy?" Raph gasped out, beginning to feel his lung burn and legs grow increasingly more wobby, like jello. 'No doubt Casey's getting tired too. I mean, we've been running for like a hour without so much as taking a breather.'

"By the time someone sees me, I'm long gone! That is, unless they wanna get a taste of pavement."

This caused Casey to completely lose himself in laughter, and he slowed down.

"Yeah, yeah, _okay_!" The human boy could hardly get words out in between his snorts of amusement. And though he seemed rather exhausted, he still found the energy to turn himself around, skating backwards to talk face-to-face with the mutant terrapin.

"Aw, does that mean you made an exception for me?"

Raph nearly tripped over his own two feet at the comment.

"What? No way! I totally beat you into the ground!" He objected. "I didn't make 'an exception' for ya!"

"Yeah, if by that you mean 'let me go like a total wimp when I made my awesome getaway on that taxi'!"

Casey refreshed the memory in both of their minds before finally stopping altogether at the edge of the pharmacy's rooftop. He decided to give his legs a rest, leaning back against the leg of a huge billboard sign, one that could easily keep them hidden from any wandering, civilian eyes.

He waited for his friend to catch up, crossing his arms over his chest with a smirk. "Dude, I zapped you, like, eight different times! I wrote the whole thing down in my old journal."

Raph came up next to him, placing a hand on the beam and putting all his weight onto it.

"Alright, fine. Whatever you say." He scoffed with a stubborn grin.

With his other hand, he 'generously' greeted Casey with a hard punch square in the shoulder, both humiliated at being reminded he lost to a highschool sophomore several years back, and that slugging each other in the arm seemed to be the only way of showing affection without getting too awkward around one another.

But the hit did little to prevent Casey's mouth from running.

"Tryin' to make up for your loss?" He mocked, rubbing his stinging forearm; the day he'd admit to Raph his hits were far too rough to be considered even remotely friendly would be the day he took geometry seriously.

To his partial disappointment, Raph barely even acknowledged the taunting remark, instead taking a few paces away from the billboard and giving his muscles a stretch.

If a nerve had gotten struck, he said nothing about it, and hid the fact well. For a moment, Casey wondered if wealsing in another jab would be the wisest course of action.

But Raph cut him off. "How about we take a quick break? Nothing too long. Only, like, five minutes or so." He suggested.

Casey shrugged, not wanting to show how much his legs really burned.

"Yeah, alright." He agreed casually, watching as the turtle walked towards the rooftop's edge.

Raph settled himself along the lip of the building, his feet dangling over the ledge.

Surprisingly unnerved, it was like Raph didn't even recognize the sheer height of the building; directly below was at least a five story drop ending in a one-way alley, littered with nothing but garbage, old metal pipes, trash cans and two very large, overflowing dumpsters.

Fed up with being left alone by the billboard, Casey followed.

As he approached, he glanced over the edge, remaining more focused on the darker part of the alleyway with a narrowed gaze, as though expecting Shredder or one of his recruits to jump out from the shadows.

But with their adrenaline finally wearing away, leaving them feeling rather exhausted, the thought of Shredder vanished as soon as it came.

For whatever reason, it became harder for Raph in particular to switch his focus onto more light-hearted topics; Casey was staring off into space as he sat down next to him, criss-crossing his legs and slouching over them.

It was then, as Raph's eyes swept across the rooftops of dozens upon dozens of shops, tourist traps, apartments and restaurants, he was greeted by a single memory: the same one Casey had recently shared, then swore the turtle spoke no word of it to anyone.

And at first, Raph tried to forget about it.

But with the presence of the human right next to him, and the source for said friend's unpleasant announcement peeking out from behind a nearby grocery store, Raph sighed.

He waited for his pounding heart to return to its normal pace before speaking:

"I… I… still can't believe you got held back, Casey." He muttered crossly under his breath.

There was no audible comment from his friend with the exception of a long sigh, but whether it had been triggered by the memory or something else was unclear. Wondering whether Casey was just keeping quiet to see how this all played out, Raph continued on anyway.

"I mean, it must suck to be stuck in high school for another year."

Contrary to his expectation, Casey continued to remain silent, his gaze plastered on the darker part of the alley, as though he had zoned out from reality. Raph slightly bit his tongue at the reaction he received.

Normally, he wouldn't have thought twice about being too insensitive, but with how upset the news had caused Casey to become, resulting in his disappearing from the lair for weeks at a time, Raph treated the subject as seriously he could.

After all, from the stories and complaints he and his brothers were told by both Casey and April, school sounded like a living hell. It was the one time Raph almost felt relieved about being shut out from society; the bright side was he never had the displeasure of attending the joke that was high school and all the brats that ran around in it.

"But, hey," Raph nudged Casey's shoulder with his elbow. "If you can survive an _alien_ invasion, Bigfoot, the world being sucked into a black hole and those stupid, horn-headed freaks…"

Ugh, I **hate** sounding so sympathetic. Raph inwardly cringed at how sappy he was being. "I am _more_ than certain you can-"

"Shut up," Casey interrupted with a hiss, slouching over even further to rest his arms on his thighs as he stared off into the alleyway.

Startled by the unexpected mood change, Raph scoffed.

"Jeez, _sorry_. I'm here tryna help you through this and what do you-"

"No, Raph, seriously, shut up," Casey's voice teetered just above a whisper.

It was only then Raph realised he... wasn't slouching. He was leaning forwards to try and _see_ into the darkness of the alleyway better.

The turtle wasn't sure whether to be confused or relieved the problem wasn't him.

Curious, he swung his legs over the ledge and back onto the rooftop, stood up, and carefully creeped over toward where Casey was sitting. He squatted down, trying to follow his friend's narrowed gaze; it landed on the darker part of the alley, but nothing out of the ordinary was there besides a few toppled trash cans and bits of trash.

"What is it, Casey?" Raph asked as softly as his vocal cords would allow. "This… this isn't some kinda prank, is it?"

But there was no need for him to even answer:

The answer itself stepped out from the shadows.

At the sight of movement from further below, Casey immediately scooted away from the edge and out of the creature's line of sight, crouching with a very surprised Raph just below the rim of the building.

Thankfully, the wall surrounding the roof stood two feet high, easily shielding the two from the gaze of… whatever could be down there.

Raph carefully poked his head up above the rim and scanned for the creature.

_Scales_.

Rippling, rough _flesh_ was the first thing he spotted.

The thing had smooth _scales_ running along the length of its entire, long and slender body, proving it was indeed _reptilian_.

As it slowly slinked on ahead, long, lizard tail twitching, the colours of its skins seemed to shift, morphing from darker grey to lighter grey.

It sniffed at one of the two dumpsters, tilting up its head so that it's face caught the moon's silvery light.

Raph stared at the lizard, mouth slightly agape and not knowing quite what to do.

He didn't even notice that Casey had poked his head up to observe what could have possibly caused such a reaction from the hot-headed turtle.

But he too froze once he spotted the larger-than-life reptile.

"Woah," Casey breathed out, watching with extreme interest as the lizard moved on light feet, almost like it was _slithering_, from trash pile to trash pile. Once it reached the second dumpster, though, it seemed to stiffen.

It sniffed at the air, two long fangs protruding from its upper and lower gums. Its eyes burned red and angry, like hot coals.

Had Raph been a hair closer to Casey, he would have heard the one word fall from his friend's mouth, the corners of his lips curling into an eager smile as he reached behind him and slowly retrieved his baseball bat.

"Mutant."

* * *

End Chapter Three


	5. Chapter 4

**((A.N. - This chapter was originally much, _much_ longer, but I've split it up into two. Hope you enjoy!))**

* * *

Raph's palms grew sweaty, eyes locked on the dark figure down, down below, like his very life depended on it.

And perhaps it _did_, for all he knew.

He could tell Casey was grinning next to him, could _see _the very corners of his mouth curving up at the thought of beating the creature's brains in.

But Raph couldn't exactly share the feeling.

How _long _had it been since he had encountered another mutant? Weeks? _Months? _

It seemed that without the Kraang or Shredder running loose and mutating whatever they felt like, the amount of freaks in the city had dwindled.

Expect for _now_.

Raph's mouth felt unnaturally dry; the hot, humid summer days seemed to have found a way to leak into what should have a crisp, cool night.

And something below was growling.

Raph and Casey both stiffened in surprise at the guttural sound before, risking a glance at one another before ducking below the ledge, just out of sight.

The lizard-like mutant wasn't moving anymore, instead cautiously swiveling its head from side to side, tasting the thick air as its eyes dilating into slits.

Its watering mouth curled into an ugly snarl, primitive mind unaware of the word it was craving so desperately:

_Food. _

But the source… where was it coming from?

Hundreds of different varying scents overlapped and overpowered its nose, one after the other, from the putrid aroma of the garbage cans and dumpsters to the worthless scrap that was a rotting rat's carcase.

It sniffed at the air again.

It knew there was something else here… something more _favourable_. Something _breathing _and _alive. _

And better yet, _nearby_.

But with both its eyesight and nose scratched beyond repair, locating its prey would be a demanding task.

The creature froze, and what could only be described as a grimace of hatred spread across its face. At once, it threw back its head and bellowed out a furious roar that echoed within the alleyway.

Seconds later, it buried its muzzle within the unknown contents of the dumpster with little concern about whether it would be discovered. The careless actions of the creature were rather… _animalistic_.

It dug through the garbage frantically, tail lashing from side to side and colliding with the smaller metal trash cans, sending them flying across the small one-way street.

Raphael poked his head up above the small ledge, trying to catch a glimpse of the creature without drawing attention toward himself. He spotted it, practically immediately, mostly thanks to its massive and blundering size.

But that became a concern Raph hadn't even taken into account before:

This thing was _huge_. The shape of the body and head of the creature, excluding its colouring, implied its origin species was some sort of bearded dragon, a common pet store _reptile… _just like he and his brothers.

But this… _thing _acted _nothing _like the sentient mutants in his family. If anything, it had more common ground with that freaky parasitic _wasp _or even _Justin_.

Not like his _brothers_.

Never them.

Suddenly, as though it had noticed Raph's silent observation, the mutant ceased savagely rummaging through the dumpster, catching the ninja by surprise.

He sat back on his heels, lowering himself down a bit more but continued to watch through narrowed eyes.

A thin, confused-sounding whine escaped past the lizards lips as it took a few steps back, as though reevaluating its options. It passed a long, grey tongue over its muzzle, tasting the air once more.

It was still there… _taunting _it.

The faint scent of _living _creatures.

The lizard's nostrils flared in irritation, resorting to pacing back and forth at the base of the same building Raph and Casey utilized as their watchtower.

Time seemed to slow.

"Freakin' cool," Casey's voice edged just above a whisper, his face decorated with an eager grin. "Dude, that thing's _disgusting_. What's with all the scars? You guys fight it already?"

Raph didn't want to risk speaking. He instead shook his head, indicating he had never seen this monster before.

"Weird," Came a reply, but he didn't sound concerned. Rather, he sounded more interested than before.

Besides, the possibility of _battling _the gnarly thing entertained him more than the idea of falling back and out of sight. He couldn't even _remember _the last time he faced off with a mutant… and Raph didn't count.

Their patrol had been boring and uneventful up until now, but _this…?_

_This _was what _Casey Jones_ had been _waiting_ for the whole night: a mutant to _bash_.

His enthusiasm made the whole situation seem as though they were up against nothing more than a Purple Dragon loser rather than a taxi-sized lizard _mutant_; he already had his baseball bat in his hand, clearly itching to use it.

"How do we deal with this, chief?_ All out_ attack?" He slipped his modified hockey mask over his face. "Or that whole ninja thing with _hiding in the shadows_?"

But there was no immediate response.

Despite the obvious dangers that came with having a giant mutant wandering through the streets of New York, it took Raph's brain a few moments to catch up.

If he remembered properly, _Muckman _was their last mutant encounter, just before their journey to space and the outer dimensions. Then, right after saving the world and returning to earth, Shredder totally vanished from their radar.

One thing had led Raph's mind right to another, making the world around him seem so distant it was as though he were hearing their conversation in third person; thus, his first reaction came to him almost absent-mindedly:

"Huh?" He glanced over. '_Jeez, did I space out **that** much or did Casey actually say what I **think** he said?_'

Well, _that_ was odd.

No, scratch _that_, it was _unheard _of for the vigilante to _ask _to be _told _what to do, but Raph had already noticed Casey's "_off" _behaviour since he arrived at the apartment. For whatever reason, Casey was acting far more _agreeable_, _tolerant _and, dare he speak the word, _friendlier _than usual.

Being compliant was not, nor _near, _one of the vigilante's predominant traits, and it left Raph feeling uneasy about whether Casey was serious. After all, Raph didn't exactly have the best record when it came to leading a team: the last time he was tasked with looking after his brothers, it ended with Mikey seriously hurt, and _he _accidently led a monster straight after Leo and their half-sister, Karai.

And it was anything _but_ pleasant when he had to tell his _father_ about it.

Raph groaned as the memory resurfaced, balling his hands into tight fists to try and cope with the shame.

"Uh, hey. You good, man?" Casey nudged his friend's shoulder with the tip of his baseball bat. "C'mon dude, we've got a giant freakin' _lizard_ thing down there! This is what we've been _waitin_' for! Don't tell me you're _wussin_' out."

"I ain't wussin' out," Raph deflected the accusation rather defensively. "I'm just… observing it's… _tactics_, I guess." '_Ugh, that sounded __**terrible**__. How does Leo always manage to sound like he knows what he's doing?'_

But in a way, he was beginning to feel jabs of uncertainty.

Raph never hesitated to lay down his own life to protect his family, but the very thought of risking his best _friend's _gave him unbearably cold feet.

_Anything _could go wrong.

_'Is... is this how __**Leo **__feels when he's leadin' us?' _

There was a small sense of guilt, but he buried it away. His ego was refusing to welcome defeat.

'_Hey, __**soft-shell**__! What'll __**Casey **__think?' _It demanded harshly. '_He'll think you're a __**chicken**__! Ya really want to let him think __**that**__? Do you think he'll never let ya live it down, ya big __**coward**__?'_

Raph gritted his teeth together.

'_I'm __**not **__afraid. I just think we're in over our heads. But, I totally bad-mouthed __**Leo **__back at the apartment… goin' on about how he's gotten __**soft**__. If I tell Casey going after this thing ain't **worth** it, he'll think I'm a __**sissy**__! Is this… is this him making __**fun **__of me or something?' _

Raph exhaled sharply through his nostrils and taped both handles of his sai with his hands. '_Okay, _you know what? **F**_**ine… **__you want me to __**lead**__? I'll __**lead**__. I can do this. I'm… kind of better than **before**…'_

His attempts at convincing himself weren't very… motivating.

'_**Leo's **__messed up a few times too… mistakes are __**fine, **__just… not at __**this **__moment. Yeah… __**definitely **__not at this moment.'_

"We go stealth," Raph replied softly, weakening the tense atmosphere around them by speaking as calmly as he could.

Casey nodded soundlessly, still grinning widely.

The unwavering enthusiasm and trust radiating from his friend's aura was enough to give Raph to feel a small burst of confidence, effectively thwarting the skittish butterflies from inside his stomach.

Holding a small breath for good luck, Raph carefully poked his head over the ledge to evaluate where to go from here.

A sharp movement from the east side of the alley caught his attention, and he forced himself to focus and imagine what his older brother would do.

"Alright, just sit tight for now, Casey," He ordered with only a slim amount of uncertainty, ego inflating with the ability to make demands.

The mutant came into his view just then.

It's flesh seemed to be somehow furiously _bleeding_ and _fading_ into the dull background as it snaked out from behind the dumpsters. It was nearly impossible to distinguish _it _from the cracked, old apartment _wall_.

He watched with an attentive eye as the lizard scrounged hungrily around the dumpsters, clawing and snapping its jaws at everything that fell into reach, no longer caring whether it was edible or not.

It was obviously _starving_.

The lizard mutant slinked about for a few more seconds, before finally settling over a garbage bag swollen with what seemed to be week-old dinner contents. Passing its tongue over its teeth, it bowed its head and began to ravenously tear through the thin layer plastic and swallow whatever it could clamp its jaws around.

Raph felt his muscles tense under his skin as he watched the mutant's scales ripple against its bones grotesquely, as though there was _something _buried deep within its flesh.

'_Gross… it's like its skin is __**shedding **__or something…' _Raph cringed.

"Aw, that's _so _metal," Casey, who had seemingly forgotten the turtle's order, sat back on his heels and peeked over the ledge as well. His gloved hands curved along the edge of the building, almost gripping it.

Raph felt his chest tighten in fear,

"Casey, get _down_!" He demanded in a strained voice.

Ironically, it was the fact Casey _followed _his order that caused a new problem to arise.

With his hands resting unknowingly on a crumbling part of the building's lip, when he tore his hands away, there was the sound of a _crack_.

A small, already broken chunk of the outer concrete wall, about the size of a softball, released itself from the rest of the ledge.

Eyes widening, the two watched in complete silence, shocked to the point of remaining frozen in place, as the piece dropped down… _down_… all the way.

The creature stopped dead in its tracks when the concrete chunk landed almost directly next to its front legs.

At first, it sniffed hesitantly at it, not sure whether it was a threat or not. It seemed just as surprised as the two vigilantes as it examined the piece.

But there was one difference.

It's head tilted up.

Straight towards them.

* * *

Leonardo blinked twice and grimaced, rubbing almost feverishly at his eyes until his vision was spotty; his mind kept zoning in and out of reality, but nothing he tried seemed to work.

Had he been asked what kinds of words could have _possibly _persuaded him to be led back into the lair, the tiles cold under his feet, he wouldn't have an answer.

Truth be told, he had grown so overly focused with Raph's whereabouts that the very thought about how to explain the whole situation to his _father _never even once crossed his mind.

He shivered; their father had never been one with a neutral outlook when one of them happened to be missing.

Leo felt slightly sick as he entered their home, the sights no longer posessing their familar charm.

Everything was exactly as they had left it:

The pinball machine was still switched on, the small cluster of lights blinking on and off in sync with a faint, 8-bit tune. There was the occasional drip of water while the TV spouted static, patiently waiting to be switched to a working channel.

Mikey had run ahead once they passed through the turnstiles, happily plopping himself down in front of the TV and allowing an old, 80s cartoon take priority.

But Leo barely even turned his head to acknowledge it, partially because _Crognard the Barbarian_ was _nothing _compared to _Space Heroes_, but he also had the feeling his father wouldn't appreciate him lounging around when Raph was missing.

A fictional cartoon was the _least _of his worries at the moment.

He had tried convincing himself that Raph's disappearance was nothing more than him throwing a hissy fit (as he _usually _did), but the horrid and plain _grim nightmares _he kept having just wouldn't let him belive that.

Especially not when each dream revolved around his team being pulled apart at the seams, sometimes _literally_, leaving him with nothing but a sense of dread and helplessness until he awoke with a start, panting and drenched in sweat.

He still couldn't shake the feeling that something was brewing on the horizon… that was until he heard the footsteps of someone approaching.

Leo's head snapped up, forcing himself back into the moment as his father walked up to them.

Donnie visibly stiffened next to his older brother, but Leo stood up a bit straighter; it was _his_ duty as the eldest to take responsibility for the team, and so he greeted the rat with a respectable bow.

He could already hear the oncoming words as a small flicker of surprise darkened his father's once welcoming eyes. The atmosphere around them turned sour.

"Where is Raphael?"

Their father's voice was strangely calm.

Leo had been anticipating the question since he watched Raph run off on the rooftops, so he had plenty of time to orchestrate a reply.

At least, that's what he thought,

"Raph is…" No sooner than when he began, he broke off, noticing that speaking the truth had somehow gotten much more difficult than expected. "He… well, you see, sensei, we sort of had a bit of a… _disagreement."_

He placed his words as carefully as his footing during katas. Fighting through the awkward grin as he tried to reason with his father, Leo even half-glanced over toward his genius brother to silently ask whether he'd be willing to put in his own recollection of the events.

No dice.

Donnie had occupied himself with the task of staring at the ground, ignoring his brother to the best of his ability.

Leo, pushed into the spotlight by betrayal, slightly hesitated.

"And then, he just sort of… well, I mean, y-you _know _how Raph gets sometimes, he-"

"Raph and Leo had another fight and then he bailed on us cause he's a big baby but we didn't know where he went so then Donnie tracked him down like one of those creepy FBI agents and now he's hanging out with Casey, probably clocking some bad guys or stealin' an ice cream truck."

Mikey, without the slightest warning, interrupted his older brother with his own version of what had happened from where he sat on the beanbag chair; he was staring so intently at the TV that it came as a total surprise he had even heard his father's question at all.

Leo stiffened.

But even with the information, Master Splinter said nothing. Not a word nor a change of expression to signal what exactly he could be feeling deep down. He simply closed his eyes and carefully thought over the jumbled mess of words; his whiskers twitched.

After a few moments of suspenseful quietness, he opened up his eyes.

"Donatello, you are dismissed."

Leo could feel his confidence shrivel when his father's returning gaze bored into his skin, expression still unreadable. He wasn't even looking in the general direction of his remaining younger son, who gave a slight nod at the demand and immediately took a large step away from his older brother, isolating him.

"Leonardo, I would like to speak with you in the dojo. At once." Splinter ordered from over his shoulder, not allowing Leo a chance to defend himself before turning away.

Shakily and not knowing what to expect, Leo nodded and followed a few paces behind. Only once did he risk glancing over his shoulder, eyes greeted by Mikey shooting him a 'thumbs-up' sign from the TV. Donnie simply shrugged with a sympathetic smile.

Leo tried to grin back, but his expression represented more of a nervous gesture rather than the confident one he envisioned.

He wasn't exactly used to getting in trouble.

Sure, he had been roped in with his brother's shenanigans over the years, their antics resulting in a group punishment rather than individual ones, but he hadn't been left to face his father all alone like now in quite some time... _years_, even.

And the anticipation of what could happen was making him feel nauseous.

'_Please just tell me I'm __**grounded **__and get it over with.' _He inwardly pleaded, following behind his father's shadow in complete silence.

The two entered the dojo, immediately heading for the typical meditation spot near the shrine of Splinter's past life.

His father sat down first and waited.

Leo's feet seemed to stop carrying him halfway through the dojo, his gaze instead drifting toward the old tree. No light shone through the cracks of the sidewalk above, mirroring the nighttime sky.

Leo gnawed on his lower lip nervously. 'Raph,_ I **really** hope you're okay.' _

"Please, Leonardo, sit,"

The blue ninja hadn't even realised he was standing in the centre of the room like a star-struck child. Sudden seized by a sensation of embarrassment, he quickly followed the order and sat next to his father, criss crossing his legs and straightening his posture.

And then the questions came.

"Tell me, my son, why did Raphael run off?" His father asked, his eyes closed.

Leo winced at the inability to read his expression and figured he could use truth to his advantage.

"It's just like _Mikey_ said… _surprisingly… _Raph and I had a bit of an argument."

"Over what?" Master Splinter's voice was neutral.

"He just… he went after some petty theif without _telling _me first, so I had _no idea _where he went and… he _pummeled_ the guy who- who wasn't worth our _time_, and I _told _him the cops could _handle _something small like that, and well… you see…" Leo's voice wavered the more he spoke.

His father frowned. "And you argued over this?"

Leo nodded. "Yes. B-but I take _full _responsibility, sensei!" He added hastily, almost _desperately_, making his father open his eyes at the change of tone.

"I _lost_ my temper and _that's _what drove him off. I should have been more patient with him."

'_Even though it was __**Raph's **__idea to go after that guy…'_ Leo blinked in surprise._ 'What am I **saying**? No… I __can't __put the blame on my own **brother**… it's __**my **__fault this happened because __**I **__wasn't able to control my team… take the punishment, Leo, you're __**leader **__after all.'_

Splinter took his time responding.

"Leonardo, I have told you before, that the burden of leadership is something only the strongest of people can bear. You cannot afford to drive your brothers away, no matter what happened. And while I see you are sincere, acknowledging what you did does not cover up the fact that you have done it."

Leo nodded shamefully. "Of _course_. I _understand_. I _want _Raph to come back so we can just talk this through like _civilized _people and-"

He broke off once he noticed with a jolt of panic that Splinter had turned his head to face him, expression still unreadable. The turtle figured his father was either still deep in thought, or just frustrated he could actually believe Raph would carry out a conversation about his _'feelings'_.

"Leonardo, you and your brother have been arguing very much as of late. Why is that?" His ears slightly swiveled forward, awaiting an answer.

Leo could feel the fingernails digging into his palm as his fist tightened by his thighs.

'_He's **noticed**? Great going, Leo.'_

"I… I just…" An answer didn't come forth like how he had expected, making his hesitation all the more humiliating. '_Speak, **stupid**! You're not **five**, anymore.' _"I guess Raph and I don't… I mean, Raph and I have _never _really seen things eye-to-eye… especially _nowadays_."

Leo fought the urge to place his head in his hands and crawl into his shell.

"Not exactly." Splinter replied. "You two used to be very close when you were smaller. You were never apart, looking out for your younger siblings and imagining what the world above your heads could be like."

He unknowingly sent Leo into a strong, nostalgic trip at the mention of his earliest memories. The rat barely even noticed his son's bittersweet outlook on the echo of his past, turning his head away to stare back at the shrine.

"You and Raphael are just like how _I_ was with _Saki… _when _we _were younger."

Leo's thoughts crashed at once.

He thought he'd _choke_.

That one, singular and _haunting _name, spoken so _informally_, caused his breath to hitch.

Taken aback, he felt his heart practically stop within his chest, genuinely wondering whether he had heard his own father correctly or whether he was simply going insane.

'_Am I… Is Splinter seriously __**comparing **__Raph's relationship with me to that of him and __**Shredder**__? Are we __**really **__sinking down to __**Saki **__level aggression?'_

But Splinter continued, keeping whether he was oblivious to his son's discomfort or not a mystery.

"Back in Japan, as you know, Saki and I were raised as brothers. We were _inseparable _as children, always together. But as we grew older, we began to take _very _different paths. Saki wanted more _power_, not for the clan, but for _himself_. I simply wanted to live a peaceful life, one with honor."

Having heard the tale several times before, Leo was already aware of the tragic conclusion, and so rather than fully immersing himself into the story, he instead predicted what lessons it would lead to by the end.

"Something came between us, though," Splinter's voice had grown darker as he took a moment to let the narrative sink into Leo's mind. When he returned, he spoke with years of broken trust and grief. "And suddenly, all of our _childhood memories _and_ life long friendship_ came _crashing _down. We were _strangers _to each other."

A powerful silence seized them both, finding its home within the dojo for several seconds.

"But… sensei," Leo interrupted as gently as he could with a slight wave of his hand, making sure his wording was respectful enough for Splinter to allow him to continue. "Raph and I aren't fighting over… y'know… a _girl…_"

Master Splinter's eyes narrowed as he shook his head, returning to lock eyes with the stuttering turtle with a stern glare.

"Then clearly you are not paying _attention_." He scolded. "Never _once _have I mentioned Shen. Your fighting with Raphael is something _I _have experienced. _Something _has come between you and your brother, yet it does _not _have to be a person. It does not having to be something _physical_, either, like a wall."

There was a pause.

"_Leonardo_,"

Leo looked up, head still somewhat pulled into his shell from embarrassment, when he heard his name. '_Wait, when did I look away?'_

"I feel as though those _dreams _you told me about may be the source of the problem." Splinter admitted with visible concern.

"But… you didn't think they could be of any importance!" Leo objected before he could stop himself. '_He seemed so certain that they were just caused by stress…' _

A part of him wished _that _was the case.

"Well, no longer." Splinter declared strongly. "As I said before, losing your brothers, your _team_, is a common fear all leaders must face. You had such visions in the past, and I foolishly assumed the current ones were nothing more than recurring nightmares." His tone grew stern, and Leo shrank back slightly.

"How can you tell? I mean, I've been _thinking_ they could mean something, but… how can _you _tell?" The turtle wondered aloud.

"You are _changing _your ways of leading, Leonardo." Splinter explained. "You are trying to _fix _something that is _not_ broken. You are an impressive leader, yet you still strive to be _more _than you can handle. I am _certain _your _dreams _play a part in this."

"So…" Leo awkwardly shifted his position. "What should I _do _about all this?"

"Meditate with me."

This was clearly _not _a suggestion.

"We will find what these _nightmares _want from you."

* * *

End Chapter Four


	6. Chapter 5

**((A.N. - Revised version of Chapter 5. Originally, this was apart of chapter four, but the two together were _way_ too long. So I split them up. Hope you enjoy!))**

* * *

Heavy clouds were rolling in far overhead.

From down in the alley, a low, menacing growl vibrated in the creature's throat.

Then, for split second, for nothing more than a _swift fraction _of a _dread-filled, scared-stiff second_, its head tilted up, and it locked its hateful eyes onto Raph's.

With bared teeth, dripping a crimson liquid that splattered by its clawed front legs, it _glared _at the the red ninja.

Casey swallowed back a gasp, slapping a palm over the mouth of his hockey mask as though that would help keep him quiet.

But the damage had already been done.

It lowered itself onto its haunches, seemingly readying itself to s_pring _to the lowest platform of the fire escape.

Feeling a surge of alarm, Raph jabed his elbow pad square into Casey's stomach, pushing him out of the mutant's view and sending him crashing onto the ground. He felt certain the creature had only spotted _him_, but refused to find out whether that was true.

Raph and Casey exchanged only a single glance at once another, full of suspense, but the human's eyes seemed more alive than ever, gleaming from behind his hockey mask.

'_How on earth can he be __**enjoying **__this?' _Raph placed a forefinger over his lips to quietly communicate his emphasis on staying silent.

But Casey seemed to have forgotten how to correctly follow orders.

"Oh _man…_" He nervously chuckled. "Do you think it saw us?"

"Wha- _What_? Are you _insane? _Of _course _it did! And keep your voice down!" Raph whisper-shouted right back, lightly punching his friend in the shoulder as a warning. "Stop _goofing _around, this is _serious_!"

"Yeah, right, you _scaredy cat_," Casey mocked. He scooted forward and poked his head over the edge of the building before Raph could even think about stopping him.

"C'mon, let's go see if it's still down there…"

Raph shook his head as a 'no' signal, holding his breath. He half expected the mutant to come launching itself over the ledge without warning.

His stomach flipped with unease at the possibility, and he quickly moved forward and grabbed Casey by the shoulder, ready to pull him away. "Hey, _moron_, ya really _shouldn't _do that! That _thing-_"

"Aw, dude, we _totally _blew it!"

In a sudden burst of frustration, seemingly out of nowhere, Casey violently shrugged away from the turtle, disappointment lacing his tone as he depressingly crossed his arms. "Whatever. Don't even bother keepin' quiet."

Confused, Raph simply stared at him. "Uh…"

It took a moment for Casey to realise his friend wasn't catching on. He scoffed and shook his head, impatiently gesturing toward the alley. "We waited _too _long, man! It's _gone_!"

He flipped up his hockey mask, frowning.

But Raph's mind couldn't seem to understand what he was saying; his hand fell to his side before the words clicked. All at once, he gasped, throwing himself towards the ledge and leaning far over it, eyes scanning the dark, trashed street below.

His heart pounded as he was greeted with nothing out of the ordinary.

The road was... _empty_?

Raph blinked, taken aback, and rubbed at his eyes to make sure reality wasn't warping around him… to make sure his perception hadn't grown hazy… to make sure his eyes really _were_ showing him the truth.

They were.

It was then reality sunk in: _Casey _was… _right_.

The thing had indeed _vanished_.

And Raph didn't know which one of the two facts were scarier.

A cold, tense silence seized the surrounding air as his shoulders relaxed, hands no longer gripping the edge like it was the only thing keeping him from falling over. He sat back on his heels and let out a deep breath of...

Of _what_?

Perhaps it was _relief _that they wouldn't have to risk their lives fighting... _whatever_ that thing was.

But... now the lives of _millions _of New Yorkers were at risk; that _thing _was on the _loose_, running around without any _morals_.

Who _knows _what _it_ could do?

Or rather, what could _they _do now? Go _after _it?

Drowning in what seemed like endless options, Raph was once again plagued with feelings of guilt. '_Is this how Leo feels all the time? Ugh, I feel like I'm __**suffocating… **__I guess I forgot how hard it was to be a leader…'_

He slid his hands over the back of his head and groaned, blankly staring out into the newly vacant alley, eyes and expression echoing his internal disbelief.

'_Well, so much for being le-… __**temporary **__leader. Can't even keep a __**giant **__mutant lizard in my sights. Great going, Raph. __**Spectacular**__.' _

He couldn't even find the strength to glance over at Casey.

The red masked turtle simply sighed out heavily, moving to lean over the ledge with his hands cradling his face. At first, his fingers covered his eyes, but he moved them away when a gentle breeze blew through the rooftops.

The boiling summer heat wasn't all that terrible during the night. It fact it was rather pleasant. Something to keep his mind of the mutant.

He could hear the faint humming of an air conditioner from the apartment to their right, the building acting as a wall that closed off the alleyway.

Raph looked over at it, not really thinking about anything.

He paused.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

The building.

The _walls_.

The apartment to their far right had patches of darker bricks covering its surface, like midnight coloured moss. It was a strange texture, but then again, the creature had scruffed the place up…_ a lot._

But, oddly enough, it… it seemed to be _moving._

Raph sat up straighter, his hands dropping from his face. He roughly nudged Casey's forearm, gathering his friend's attention, and pointed toward the wall.

"Hey," Was all he managed to choke out.

At the base of the neighboring apartment wall, the bricks seemed to somehow _squirm_ and _writhe_, almost as though it were _covered_ in thousands and thousands of wriggling maggot-like _bugs_.

Raph's phobia kept him from staring at the sight for long; he moved his gaze a bit toward the left-

_Crash_.

A singular, isolated trash can, leaning up against the wall had suddenly toppled over, as though _something_ had walked into it. A black snake-like creature or… _object _slithered back into the darkness of the twitching concrete.

There was a soft snarl.

It was only when a gleam from a pair of eyes caught the half-light, did the realisation hit Raph like a runaway bus:

"Oh, no… _camouflage_." The word felt like a burning swear on his tongue. "Lucky little-"

"Are you _kidding_?" Casey interrupted in disbelief. _Loudly_.

Raph fought down the urge to shush him down, fearing anymore sudden noises would scare the mutant off; instead, he shot his friend a stern glare which had the same effective result.

Casey was much quieter when he spoke. "How are we supposed to _fight _something we can't _see_?"

Raph stopped.

He was completely without an answer; that was something _he_ always asked _his_ leader... _Leo_. But Leo _wasn't here. _And Raph was standing only milliseconds away from... _giving up. _

Accepting their _loss._

_Losing_.

Getting _beat_.

Bested by a freaking _animal_.

But something was nagging him... _yelling_ at him. '_Would a __**real **__leader do that? Would __**Splinter Junior **__do that?' _A faint voice mocked him.

Patronized him.

_Scolded _him.

It sounded _too _much like Leo.

Raph narrowed his eyes, feeling his anger beginning to reach its peak at the internal accusation. '_Guess I might as well see how much Leo's __**skills **__rubbed off on me… __**if **__at __**all…'**_

He exhaled calmly. "I've… I think I've got an idea,"

He wasn't met with much enthusiasm.

"Yeah, so do _I_, run in _all _guns blazing and beatin' that thing-" Casey cut in, wanting nothing more than to pummel the creature's skull into nothing but _mush_.

"_No_, ya _moron_, I mean I'll use one my _smoke bombs_ to track it." Raph retorted dryly. "That _thing _down there is _massive_, it's bound to knock _something _over eventually. And when it does,"

He tossed the smoke bomb into the air and caught it. A confident smile was etched across his face. "I'll nail it with _this_."

Casey shrugged. "Fine, _whatever_. But what if it _doesn't_?"

"Oh, it _will_," Raph replied quietly, faithful in his formulation. "We just have to be-"

There hadn't been time to finish before a loud crash from down below forced him to abandon the sentence.

Just as predicted, the last standing metal trash can had collapsed onto its side, and a few plastic garbage bags flooded out.

From nearby, a low, animalistic grumble confirmed Raph's very suspicion.

He flashed Casey a sly, almost vainglorious smile, before reeling back his arm, the smoke bomb held firmly within his grip. Ensuring the creature wouldn't be able to scramble away, he gave a faint, curt nod, and launched the small, smog-filled eggshell as hard as he could.

The two held their breath.

And all of a sudden, the alleyway below exploded into a deep, purple haze.

The creature _screeched_ as the bomb smacked it directly between the eyes, leaving it momentarily blind to the surrounding world as its senses were clogged with the smokey contents. Then, it began to _burn_.

It roared, an ugly, fearful and distressed sound, and began to backpedal, ramming it's long, lanky body into the wall of the apartment. It thrashed its head from side to side, banging against the metal dumpters and the hard, brick walls.

Completely defenseless.

Raph swiftly unsheathed both of his gleaming sai, spinning them in his hands as though to show off his successfulness in tracking the creature. He gave Casey a triumphant grin and smirked.

"Uh, you were saying?"

Having said the final word and not giving Casey a chance to speak up, Raph found himself flinging his body down the fire escape, opting to take the fastest route of sliding down the railing rather than taking the steps.

He was almost on the last floor by the time he heard his friend finally shouted back:

"Wait! Does this mean we get to hit it?" Casey asked in eager anticipation, following his friend. "Uh, hold up… what's the plan?"

But the turtle didn't answer.

Raph already had his feet planted on the ground, preparing himself to confront the mutant by the time Casey arrived next to him.

The red ninja pretended as though he hadn't heard the question. He had been riding the triumphant sensation of victory until now, feeling far too confident for his own good and trying his hardest to impress Casey with his leadership skills, or lack thereof, without even realising what his actions would lead too.

And now, just as he did many years before, he was paying the price for it:

Standing face-to-face with a huge, dangerous mutant he knew _nothing _about.

For a split second, he felt a stab of uncertainty.

But it didn't last long: the deep purple smoke was beginning to clear, and the creature was slowly gaining back its sight and smell bit by bit.

And only moments later, it spotted the two armed vigilantes. Raph was grinning, Casey at his side.

"Alright lizard… _thing_, show me what ya got!" The turtle shouted confidently, the rush of adrenaline keeping him from utter the word _'retreat'_.

Casey smirked as the thing struggled to gain its footing, groaning in pain. "Heh. I think my _sister_ could put up more a fight than that."

Neither one of them, drentched in confidence, dared back down as the monster took a hesitant step closer towards them, straightening up its posture in an attempt to appear bigger than it really was.

In an attempt to scare them away.

Raph's eyes widened, his smile faltering all of a sudden.

Now that the two were confronting the monster up close, they realised the height of the building had skewed their interpretation of the mutant... for the worse. It actually _exceeded_ the size of a taxi cab, its front legs reaching about a good three feet from the ground. The whole thing was probaby over seven feet in both height and length, especially with its swishing, aggitated tail.

Casey and Raph, on the other hand, shared _nothing_ with it in that regard, and all of a sudden, the situation began to feel... _risky_.

Like, _more_ than before.

And because the two hadn't been intimidated by its size, immediately, the creature registered them as a _threat_.

And the fight Casey had been so _desperately_ wanting began.

On the defensive, the mutant snapped its stout jaws at them, needle-like teeth ready to tear at their flesh and peel it from their bones like oranges.

Raph and Casey did back away, but only slightly, both yelping at the sudden movement.

But the creature still did not feel safe. It tilted back its head, filling the air with an ear piercing roar, eyes burning with a hate-fueled fire and teeth bared until the gums were visible.

Red-tinted saliva dripped from its jaws as it breathed raggily. _Heavily_.

Like it was in _pain_.

And just like any other animal in pain, it began to react _very _agressively.

Raph barely had time to move when a sudden, a fully clawed hand came lashing out towards them, sending a shower of garbage their way.

With a gasp, the red ninja leaped out of the way at the last second, grabbing onto the bottom of the fire escape while Casey was left to duck and avoid having a first-hand experience as to what a hubcap to the face felt like.

"_Woah_! Uh, hey Raph?" Casey stuttered, risking a glance up at him. "I don't usually say this, but, maybe you can call up your brothers and ask, y'know, how they're _doing _and if they'd… I _dunno_, like to _help _out?"

"_What_?" Raph exclaimed, not wanting the other vigilante to think he was backing down from a fight. "And let Leo know I _chickened _out? No wa-"

But he was never able to finish the sentence.

The creature used his preoccupied mind to its advantage.

It charged toward him, roaring, as he hung defenselessly on the fire escape. And with the force of what felt like a subway train, it headbutted him square in the plastron, sending him flying into the open dumpster at the end of the alley.

The back of his head hit something. _Hard._

His limbs turned numb as bright, white stars flashed across his vision, and his brain shut down for a few seconds.

"_Raph_!"

Dazed and aching all over, Raph was barely able to hear his friend's desperate shout.

He couldn't even seem to think. He couldn't even _see_: everything was a blur of soft blacks, greys and other dark puke-like colours.

The world appeared to spin as the pain began to set in, slowly, slowly. He was more than certain the back of his head had banged against the lid of the metal container.

His temple throbbed painfully, and all at once, he felt _incredibly _sick to his stomach. In the following seconds, he grew overly relieved that he was already in a trash can.

'_Awesome. __**Great**__. This is going __**fantastically**__.'_

He spat sarcastically in his head, wiping his mouth off on the wraps on his left arm. He let out a groan, pushing himself up from underneth the remains of old, rotting food, crumpled up paper and old, tattered clothing.

With one hand already curled around the rim of the enormous dumpster, ready to spring out and return to the fight despite still being light headed, he suddenly heard something that made him _freeze _in his tracks:

Casey was _screaming_.

Then, just as his vision finally returned to normal, he spotted what appeared to be a blurry figure, that of a_ limp body_, being _hurled _directly _his way_.

More specifically, at his _face_.

Already certain he already had _some _sort of head injury, he quickly moved to the side at the last second to avoid gaining anymore damage.

What would have slammed on _top _of him, had he not slid out of the way, instead landed _next _to him with an audible, sharp groan of pain.

But at the realisation of what -or rather _who- _it was, Raph swallowed a pang of fear, his chest tightening until he was sure he'd explode. His breath caught in his throat as he turned toward his injured friend, eyes scanning every inch of him.

His heart began to pound. "Shit… _shit… _what do I…?"

As he hesitantly placed a forefinger to his friend's throat, poking and prodding as he searched for a heartbeat, to his absolute _relief_, Casey began to stir.

Raph let out the breath he had been holding and placed a hand over his plastron, as though gripping his chest.

"_Ooooww…_ ya _sure _ya won't call Leo? Or Donnie? Or _someone_… " Casey slurred, struggling to lift his head. "Jeez, that thing's built like a _tank… _and _hits _like one, too…"

He bit back a grimace as Raph attempted to help him sit up. He didn't get very far before a ripple of pain cascaded down his spine, and he fought back a sharp cry. Raph was giving him a look of unease.

It was clear the hockey pads weren't doing a very good job at protecting him _this _time around… especially his left leg.

Man, what did he smack _that _against? It felt like it was on _fire_.

"I tried hittin' it _everywhere _I could and _nothing_." The vigilante put it with sudden agitation, almost as though he were angry the creature had been able to beat _him _to a pulp rather than vice versa.

"Raph, I'm fine,_ I'm fine_," He then insisted, sounding almost _offended _ to be receiving assistance; he tried to pull himself away, but with the shift of his leg, immediately stopped with a hiss.

"I'm _not _hurt or anythin'. I've been through worse." His voice came out as a squeak.

Raph stared back at his bruised friend in a mix of both annoyance and fear; sometimes Casey's insistence on being independent and refusing the help of others could come at the _worst _possible times.

"Yeah, _right_," Raph shot right back. "You don't look like you could take on _Storkman _right now."

Narrowing his hazel eyes, charged by the humiliation of being seen as weak, Casey took the insult rather harshly and pushed the turtle away.

"Seriously, man?" Raph whispered-shouted. ."I'm _tryna _h-"

A low rumbling noise cut him off, and in the split second afterwards, both Raph and Casey, forgetting all about their feud, immediately sunk themselves lower into the trash heaps to avoid being seen.

The sound was almost like a purr of _distress_, and it was drawing closer… and _closer… _

Raph carefully peered over the edge from where he lay; this time, Casey didn't disobey his orders and stayed down with little protest.

The creature was scrounging around, _searching _for them by following the trash they had left behind. During the fight, when Raph had been knocked to the brink of unconsciousness, Casey had lost his shoe.

The monster bent down to sniff it, to try and get their scent once more, but its sensitive nose was still out of commission for the moment.

Temporarily damaged by the smoke bomb, meaning it _couldn't _find them.

It _shrieked_.

Contrasting the howls from before, this was a cry of absolute _despair _and _pain._

And then Raph remembered:

Unlike the previous, arguably more _beta _version of the current item, Donnie had created a whole new batch of smoke bombs filled to the brim with a more burning, _stinging_, _blistering _powder for their enemies.

The genius had requested one of his brothers use his new product on something, preferably someone who _deserved _to have their senses shut down for a few minutes.

Raph eagerly agreed to help out with his younger brother's experiment, though it was only to gain the new and improved weaponry.

'_Well, at least I can tell him that it __**works…' **_Raph smirked as he watched the creature struggle… until a small noise next to him snapped him out of his nearly sadist-like state.

When he turned his head, ducking down, he noticed Casey was gripping his lower left leg, a painful grimace etched across his reddening face.

Raph felt like his pulse doubled in speed.

"Casey… you good?" The ninja cringed, at once wanting to smack himself across the face after uttering those three stupid words. '_Of course he's __**not**__, shell for brains, __**look **__at him! He's __**covered **__in bruises and cuts! What kind of question __**was **__that?' _

"I mean, I _know _you're hurt but… uh… is your leg…"

His friend looked up at him, still not speaking, _explaining_, nor changing his expression, but his grip on his leg _tightened_.

Casey didn't have to say anything; a closer inspection of his leg, bending a few inches _below_ the knee, said it all:

Raph's mouth grew dry. _'Oh my god… that thing __**broke **__his leg.'_

"Okay, that's it. You were _right_, Casey. I'm an _idiot_. I'm a big, stupid _freaking _idoit. I'm gonna call Leo,"

'_I'm a __**terrible **__leader. I'm a __**terrible **__leader. This is __**all **__my __**fault**__. I __**can't **__do this…'_

He frantically obliged to his friend's long and overdue request, solely out of the dread of not knowing what else to do. Quickly, he fished around the inner pocket of his belt, fingers panic-strickenly searching for the device to contact his more experienced, older brother.

"Got it," The turtle breathed out with relief, sensing the presence of a cool item against his palm.

He pulled it out, other hand ready to punch in the numbers.

And in his palm rested another smoke bomb.

"Huh?" Raph did a double take, from Casey's confused face, then back to the small, egg-shaped weapon in his hand.

'_Did that thing hit me too hard? Am I seeing things…?'_

It was then Casey finally found his voice; it wasn't much, not even above a whisper, and his tone was much _hoarser _than before.

"Raph… that's a... that's not-"

"My _phone_!" Raph explained loudly, the sweat forming on his palms causing him to accidentally drop the smoke bomb, forgetting all about how sensitive their shell tended to be.

But that wasn't the biggest problem at the moment.

The creature had crained its head up, _glaring _toward their location and narrowing its red, bloodshot eyes.

It had heard.

But the ninja was too busy patting himself down, far too swarmed with disbelief to even notice the monster creeping toward them; his back was facing it, his mind _missing _from his body.

Casey tried to slide further into the trash pile, being the one who realised the gravity of their situation. But any movement of his leg whatsoever caused him to stop.

"_Raph…_" He tried to gather his oblivious friend's attention to no avail.

"Be _quiet…_" Raph urged desperately. "Casey, I left… I left my _phone _back at your _apartment… I don't __**have **__it_!"

His injured friend's face balanced; it didn't even look like he was wearing white face paint anymore. "Oh _no…_"

The mutant was no less than a few feet away, furiously sniffing at the air and fighting through the pain of the smoke.

"We _can't _go underground and risk leading that thing into the _lair_!" Casey informed his quaking friend in a whisper.

"_Obviously_, 'cause _you _can't move at _all_!" Raph retorted. "We'll just have to… uh…"

Casey's voice was strained from the pain in his leg. "L-look, I _might _have _my _phone with me, but… I haven't chharged it in like, _eight weeks…_"

Behind them, the creature angrily was snarling, as though it were responding, or perhaps _mocking_, the injured human. It took the two only a few seconds to feel the surrounding air suddenly turn _warm… humid _and _wet_.

The thing's hot breath was _directly _on them… _it _was practically on _top _of them, the bottom of its head ready to dip down and greet them with bared teeth and a ravenous appetite.

'_Fix this, __**meathead**__. __**You **__got Casey into this, so __**you **__have to get him out… __**you're **__the leader, now take __**responsibility**__.'_

"Okay, I… I'll _distract _it and… and _you _call Leo!" Raph ordered in a panicked tone, his sentence mashed together into one long word. "Tell him to get his shell over here, like, _yesterday _fast."

He didn't even wait for Casey to approve of the plan before twirling out his sai, swallowing back his _fear_, his _uncertainty _and his feeling of absolute _shame _for allowing the patrol to go so far south.

Without giving himself a chance to rethink his actions, Raph hurled his body over the lip of the container, right foot jutted out and aimed directly toward the creature's jaws, prepared to strike out a few fangs.

Casey didn't stick around to watch as Raph's foot made contact with the lizard's maw, a loud cracking sound emanating from the creature as it howled at the impact.

He was far too busy trying to reach his back pocket without moving his leg.

It was _not _a simple task and it was anything _but _painless.

It took nearly a full minute until the tips of his fingers finally grazed against the top of the device, buried in the pocket; he barely even dared to breathe once he gripped the cellular into his palm.

'_Almost… __**c'mon**__, man…!'_

The human quickly broke out in a cold sweat as he pulled out his phone and turned the black screen towards his face.

'_Please don't be dead please don't be dead please don't be dead…'_

Swiftly, he pressed the home button.

At once, his hazy eyes were assaulted with the brightness of the home screen, and the picture of a famous hockey player in the background sent a chill down his back. He let out a small laugh, relieved beyond words… but it died on his tongue once he noticed the battery.

'_Dammit. __**Two **__percent… are you kidding?'_

Casey wasted no time booting up his contacts, locating Raph's older brother almost at once.

Without sparring a single second, he clicked the familiar Space Heroes icon, fingers flying across the digital keypad.

**One **percent.

Against all odds, he sent a message, milliseconds before his phone shut down for good:

'_SOS_'.

* * *

End Chapter Five


	7. Chapter 6 (Part 1)

**((A.N. - Revised Chapter six. It is still a two-part chapter, but the second part is much shorter than before.))**

* * *

Leonardo hesitated.

Rather than staring clearly and directly at his father, he found himself gripping his hands together, his unusually skittish eyes darted from the vibrant carpeting to the rat's awaiting face.

From the very moment his ears had been greeted by Master Splinter's voice, explaining to him that meditation would be the best way, if not the _key_, to figuring out what the so-called _'visions' _wanted from him, Leo had suppressed the urge to back out.

It was almost because of the way his sensei spoke: there was _something _in his voice that made the answer sound as though it was _simple _to get... _easy _to do.

And Leo couldn't seem to believe it.

_'It's __**just **__meditation, Leo... you've done it all your life... why are you getting cold feet __**now**__? Don't you want these nightmares to __**end**__?' _An innocent part of him wondered.

He felt a sudden, sharp stab of guilt deep down.

His teacher wasn't smiling, yet didn't appear to be upset, either. He held a kind expression, reflecting his endless patience and wisdom. Still, visible traces of tiredness and age were beginning to show through.

Right now, he _wasn't _a master of ninjutsu… he was a _father _who only wished to _understand _and _help_.

_'How __**disgraceful**__.' _A sneering voice patronized, all previous innocence forgotten. Leo felt his posture stiffen at the sound of his internal turmoil. _'Throwing away his offer like it's __**nothing**__.'_

'_That's __**not **__true.' _But it almost was.

It seemed like whenever his eyes shut, in turn surrendering to the darkness of his inner consciousness, it _never _ended nicely. More often than not, he would find himself trapped in a world of _chaos _and _illusions_, standing _helpless _as his team was _ripped _from his sight and pulled into the surrounding darkness.

Each and every night, their fates never changed, and each and every night, they were _destroyed_.

Splinter had offered to hear him out about his _'dreams'_, but there was still a part of the blue ninja which demanded the satisfaction of understanding the significance behind what he saw without any assistance.

In simpler terms, to figure things out_ by himself for himself. _

His _want _to become more independent, to become _more _than just '_a leader'_ was the very thing which motivated him to decipher the dreams as his second-most challenging task (having a _'talk' _with Raphael once he returned from his tantrum easily stole first place).

"Will you join me, Leonardo?"

The clear voice of his father cut through his jumbled thoughts, snapping the turtle back into the reality.

He hadn't voiced his final decision yet. But again, just as before, he hesitated.

Splinter caught on. "These dreams are taking a toll on you, my son. You are losing your focus much _quicker _than usual."

Leo still had a choice to make. Sparing a few seconds to draw in a deep, confident breath, he made his decision.

"Yes. I'll meditate with you." He finally said.

Splinter nodded. "As a reminder, my son, do not forget that the perils you face within your _own self_ are just as _deadly _as the ones in the _real world_." He offered. "Do not push yourself to do things you would not normally do simply because you are not in _this _reality."

Leo gave a curt nod. And yet, he couldn't stop the sickening sensation of his stomach _twisting _in _anxiety _as his brain brought him an almost _cinematic _playthrough of all the times he had to watch his brother's lives cut _short_...

He forced back a shiver.

But… maybe _this _time things would be different. Maybe _this _time... those visions will have _changed_.

'_Maybe I'll actually find some __**answers**__. '_

'_Maybe this time... I'll be ready for it __**all**__.'_

The feeling of newly-found determination flooded through him, driving him _forward_, _urging _him that this was the best he could do for himself.

And so, without giving himself a chance to rethink or take back his answer, Leo quickly took to replicating his father's posture; the turtle settled himself into a meditating position on the carpeting, taking in one final sweep around the room with his eyes before closing them, welcoming the nothingness.

A moment later, with legs crossed and mind focused on maintaining peaceful, slow breaths, he let himself relax.

All ideas, thoughts and memories melted away until his once buzzing brain was as still as his body. He focused his attention toward the calming sensation of the world around him fading... drifting away into nothing more than an afterthought.

Minutes, which before had _sped _by like the underground subway, grew slow and lethargic.

Seconds began to drag on and on until finally... time seemed to _stop _altogether.

Leo felt his internal aura take full control while his physical body remained motionless, trapped by the earth's limitations. As though in slow motion, he rose up and away from himself, stepping quietly into the inner depths of his spirit.

His feet hit the cool ground, sending a shiver up his spine, and he took in the sight before him.

But he froze at once.

It was impossible not to _notice_, not to _sense _that something was… extremely _off. _

This notable difference was more like a rough _slap _in the face than anything of a _subtle _nature; the innerness of his consciousness had changed _drastically _since the dreams began to stalk him.

Everything was _gone_, _different _and _destroyed_. He could still remember what had once been there, leading it all to seem _familiar._

Before, Leo recognized his spirit to be a place filled with soft colours, mostly blues and tans, brimming with tranquillity and sternness, his ego locked in a never-ending battle with the ambition to better himself.

But now… _nothing _he laid his eyes on came _close _to resembling what he had grown to know.

From his peripheral vision, he could make out the sight of what appeared to be paint _peeling_, even _dripping _in some areas, like thick _tar_.

In turn, the melting, pastel colours and shifting peacefulness revealed what his new consciousness truly was underneath its _facade_: dark and grey.

_Lifeless_.

He gazed around at the area, watching with rising tension as it shedded its coat to show the duller, darker version of what lay beneath.

As if on cue, a sudden _humid _and _stale _breeze, scented with blood and ash, came rolling in like a heavy fog.

With an uncontrolled shudder and fighting down the urge to cough as he inhaled the grossly saturated air, Leo readied himself for the oncoming nightmare the same way he had always done.

_'Oh, what...?' _A sudden voice gasped sarcastically… overdramatically. _'You really think something's gonna __**change**__? That you're not gonna be __**stuck **__here, fighting until you fall from __**exhaustion**__? Why not just stick up a __**white flag**__ and beg for __**mercy**__?'_

Leo gritted his teeth together at the words.

_Pathetic_. He spat, though it was mostly to cover up the fact he was recoiling from the mutiny his own mind was committing against him. _That's something a __**coward **__would do... give up so easily._

But it would be a _lie _had he claimed the comments didn't bring a sense of _concern. _These dreams _always _resulted in the _same ending_ no matter what he tried to do. His brothers _always _lost the battle in horrible ways... each death _worse _than the last.

A sharp shiver crawled up his shell at the notion, reaching all the way into his fingertips as he realised in disgust how _accustomed _he had become to seeing his family _dying _around him, _dropping _like flies.

Figurative cold claws gripped at him, almost holding him in place, and he glanced over his shoulder unsurely, gaze aimed toward where he had left his physical body.

_'Why not just stick up a __**white flag **__and beg for __**mercy**__?' _Echoed a voice.

He huffed. _You're a __**leader**__, Leo... quit acting like a baby... you're __**better **__than this. _

The turtle almost expected the_ real world _Leo to walk up to him and try to talk him out of venturing forth, to spew forth some _leader-like phrases_ he overheard from Captain Ryan.

But there was no longerany indication _the other Leo_ had ever _existed_.

All colours but black and grey had _vanished_, leaving nothing but _emptiness _in its path.

Even if he squinted, all while taking a few hesitant steps toward where he had started the journey, still _no trace_ of the physical body -_his body_\- was visible.

Leo let out a long sigh and turned back around.

He _felt _utterly alone.

He _was _utterly alone.

_Guess it's all up to __**me **__now. _He reasoned with a pang of unease. _Time to get some answers. _

The leader took a moment to assess his surroundings:

_Well, at least the guys aren't here to start this off... not __**so **__bad...not as bad as it __**could **__be, that's for sure._

Though he was thankful for the absence of his brothers, meaning his dream wouldn't target them any time soon, there were still other things which caused his stomach to _twist_:

He was practically _blind_.

No, his vision wasn't actually _deteriorating_. But the _problem _was there was _nothing _for him to look at.

There was _nothing _to _see _other than what seemed like a dark, endless _room_. He could make out the shape and outline of his hands and feet in front of him, but just _barely_. Trying to focus on anything else would be a complete waste of time..

The only other senses he figured could be useful was _hearing _and _touch_. Just as he had done numerous times in the past, he knew he could make do without sight.

It was possible, but the downsides were extremely _problematic _and _unfavourable _for the situation at hand.

The _nightmare _at hand.

_I am __**not **__giving up so easily this time. _

These violent dreams had a _purpose_... and all the leader craved now were the _answers_.

The question of _'why' _came to mind, but Leo was more focused on the motives behind whoever decided why his dreams had to be so… _vivid_.

_Well? Care to answer? _

He waited.

There was nothing but silence_._

It was _stupid _to expect any sort of reply, but Leo still found himself slightly _disappointed _that his question received no responce nor reaction from the greater force pulling the strings.

From the_ creature._

Ah, yes.

The _creature_.

Had he mentioned that _beast _yet?

The _sole culprit _behind the deaths of his brothers within these uncontrollable dreams?

He _hated _it.

It was some kind of _monster _which found its home in the depths of his mind, between the crevasses of his thoughts, only to appear when he closed his eyes.

It would hurl itself at him without warning, when he least expected it, teeth _snapping _and claws eagerly awaiting an opportunity to _shred_. And although it _constantly _came after him, _constantly _appearing in the corners of his vision, Leo was _never _able to get a clear image of the attacker; the world was _far too dark _and the creature _far too quick _for his eyes.

He only had a _vague _impression of what the monster could look like: it seemed to have an odd build which resembled a large, thin _dog_, but rather than _fur_, it was covered head to toe in rough, dark leather-like _skin_. It had a tail, a long, _lizard-like_ tail, there to only _trip _and _smack _him.

Malice _poured _from its aura like a fountain, its eyes red, bottomless pits of smoldering _terror_.

He had spent _countless _nights with the thing, both of them trapped in his own _mind_, fighting against each other until he either _gave up_… or it _caught _him.

There was _never _a third option.

_'Why not just stick up a __**white flag **__and beg for __**mercy**__?' _The voice returned.

But Leo barely even heard it. Panic was rising up in his chest, a distressing sensation that locked his feet to the spot the moment he heard a familiar, _infamous _sound.

The _near-deafening silence_ was being _cut _into by another noise, echoing through the darkness with every fearful churn of his gut.

Soft, faint footsteps dotted the cold floor, growing _nearer _and _nearer_.

_The creature... _

The very monster which had been stalking him from the beginning.

_...it's spotted me!_

Leo's blood ran cold as his mind, finally seeming to _cooperate_, realised what exactly was going on.

_It's happening all over again. _

He shook his head violently with a grimace, scattering the thoughts.

He needed to _focus… focus… _

_Okay, Leo… you __**got **__this… this is the moment… you're gonna go __**after **__that thing and figure out what the heck it wants… _He tried reassuring himself as the sound grew louder. _Just grab your __**swords **__and make that... thing… beg for mercy __**itself… **_

With one hand slowly snaking up toward where his katanas were held, the rest of his body went into a full-on defensive stance; knees slightly bent in case he'd have to spring out of the way, while his left arm was raised horizontally over his upper chest, ready to block an attack.

His eyes and head followed the direction of the advancing footsteps, turning less than half an inch every second.

It felt like _hours _before he finally unsheathed a single sword, palms already growing sweaty and heart hammering within his chest from uncertainty. He had the suspicion he was being _circled _like _prey_; footsteps were echoing off of imaginary walls he could never find.

The sound grew _nearer _and _nearer_... up until the point it was so _close _to him, had he been _brave _enough to risk losing an _entire limb,_ it was quite possible he would have been able to reach out and touch the creature from where he stood.

He didn't dare push his luck.

Leo could feel his limbs getting _heavy _and _stiff _from remaining in a defensive position for much longer than he had previously anticipated.

In fact, it was almost a _total relief _once he noticed the footsteps no longer fell onto his awaiting ears.

The sound seemed to just... _stop_.

_Vanish_.

He slightly relaxed his posture, now that he wouldn't have to worry about the creature and could avert his attention back towards-

_Wait… _

The leader's mouth went dry, completely thrown out of his game once his brain comprehended the occurrence.

This was..._ something new._

_Different_.

It was as though the thing had _realised _Leo was tracking it by _listening _to its talons clicking unceremoniously along the floor.

Now, it had left him with _nothing _to indicate where it could be lurking.

There was only-

_Skittering_.

Leo swore his _pounding heart _skipped over several necessary beats, and he involuntarily exhaled a sharp breath as the prickling sensation of _clawed hands_ shot over his feet. The nails were not nearly rough enough to cause life-threatening or irreversible damage, but once he found enough strength in his legs to finally move, he risked a look downwards.

His wide eyes eventually adjusted to the dim lighting, and he caught sight of faint, red cuts streaked along his green flesh.

He grimaced, snapping his head back up to stare into the darkness while his hands grasped the handle of the katana a bit tighter.

_I've dealt with this thing so many times before... _He recalled, swallowing back his fear. _Why am I so __**nervous **__right now? I __**know **__what to do... I __**know **__what to do... _

He wasn't _lying_.

Leo was _well aware _of how to _fight _against the creature. He knew most of its weak points by now and how to avoid it.

The problem was that he was never allowed to _win_. His dreams wouldn't _let _him.

And maybe the creature knew that.

Knew that whatever it did, it would get him in the end.

It didn't even have to try.

And now, it was clearly _messing _with him, _taunting _him, running circles around him like a playful _dog_… a playful dog with powerful snapping _jaws _and thick slobber dripping down its face, read to _tear _into its prey and rip out everything from the inside.

Leo felt like nothing but a c_hew toy, _one which could _never _be broken and would _always _return _unscaved_... just _begging _to be ripped open again and _again _and _again_.

_I never really liked dogs… _He complained dryly, trying to follow the sounds of scraping talons along the floor.

The thing was _coming back_... returning to _best _him.

Leo listened intently to the faint, ragged breathing of the creature as it searched for a weak spot, _watching _and _hoping _he would let his guard down long enough for it to _attack_.

_I'm not gonna let that happen… _He vowed to himself.

'_Oh, yes you __**will… **__remember? The dreams __**won't **__let you…' _

Leo held back a scoff, barely even noticing a_ hot breath_ make contact with the skin on the back of his _throat_.

His pulse skyrocketed; that voice was trying to _distract _him.

Something growled deeply, _dangerously_, _threateningly _in his ear.

_'C'mon move! __**Move**__! You're a sitting turtle! Do __**something**__!' _His brain screamed, _begging _his unresponsive limbs to turn around and face the threat._ 'Didn't you hear what your father said, you daft reptile? The dangers you face __**here **__were just as deadly as the ones in the __**real **__world!'_

Leo needed to _attack_, _defend… _or he'd _perish_.

And so, with a loud exclaim of built-up tension, eager to rid himself of the nightmare-ish plague the creature had brought upon him, Leo gripped the handle to his sword as tightly as he could muster and swung it full-circle around himself.

In moments, he ended up standing in the same direction where the beast had alerted him with its putrid breath.

But to his surprise…

'_Too slow, __**turtle**__.'_

N_othing _was there.

Immediately, his trusted sword felt as though it weighed three times morethan it just had, and his hands shook from the weight.

The thing had already _retreated _into the shadows.

He was _still _being hunted.

He was still the _chew toy_. The creature was still _toying _with his mind… just like it always did... time and time _again_.

And it would continue to do so unless he did something about it.

And he was fed up.

"You- you think you _scare _me?" He shouted loudly into the darkness after it, his voice hoarse and reflecting all the frustration and resentment he felt toward the nightmares. "I'm _not afraid _of you… _whatever _you are! I've had to _fight _and _face my fears_ my _entire life_! None of the _nightmares _you give me are anything _close _to _reality!_ Stop _hiding _in the depths of my mind like a _coward_!"

There was still no reply… nothing to signal whether the creature had heard him.

But that was all about to change.

Leo drew in a deep breath, hollering out into the void-like room as loud as his lungs would allow:

"_Come out here and face me, you __**freak**_!"

He returned to a defensive position, panting heavily as he waited for a response.

There was a soft groan from the shadows, an animalistic sound, but sounding rather distant. Leo narrowed his eyes, not sure whether it was a trick or not.

Not like he'd have to wait for an answer, though.

Without any noise _whatsoever,_ all at once a clawed hand came _lashing _out from the darkness, as fast as _lightning_... and aimed straight for his _throat_.

Leo heard a gasp rush out from his mouth, watching with panic-stricken wide eyes as the razor-sharp _talons _lunged closer and _closer _towards him...

He reacted without _any thought_, relying _purely _on instinct as he abruptly shoved the blunt end of the katana's handle straight at what he assumed was the beast's chest.

There was a sudden sharp cry as his sword made contact, along with a low _thud_, and a victorious feeling washed over him, carving a faint smile into his grimacing face.

But the sensation did not last long.

Just as soon as he warded off the first attack, another clawed hand came slashing at his right arm, attempting to catch him off guard by remaining in his peripheral vision.

The leader at once jerked his entire body away, partially drawing head down into his shell as he ducked into a backwards roll, feeling the talons miss the scales on his forearm by nothing more than an _inch_.

He used his hands to half somersault back onto his feet and quickly retrieve the second katana from its holder on his back.

Thanks to the Foot and dangerous rouge mutants running loose around New York City, he had become rather proficient at _fighting _without _thinking_.

And clearly, it had paid off, as now, with _both _of his trusted weapons at his disposal, Leo's self-confidence _skyrocket_. He gazed toward the direction where the creature had disappeared with a sideways glance and smirked almost smugly;

"Let's see who'll be raising a _white flag_ now,"

It was all he was able to say before he was thrust into battle once again; this time, though, it went by like a _blur_.

With his vast knowledge of _techniques _and _strategies _racing through his mind like blistering comets, picking and choosing which to use without a second thought, he _slashed _and _stabbed _as the thing _hurled _itself at him from the darkness.

But now, he felt like he was actually… _winning _for once. It was _different _than before.

Better.

Adrenaline was flooding through his veins, making him feel like _fire_.

_Untouchable. _

_Unstoppable. _

_Unbeatable. _

Hearing the shrieks of the creature, signaling it was taking _damage _while he had the _upper hand, _sent his confidence through the _roof_.

He was _winning_. He was actually _winning_.

This was something _different_. His vision had _changed_.

He had been right.

_I'm winning!_

But he never stopped to taunt.

Instead, he placed all his thoughts, all the _things _he wanted to ask, shout and _scream _into his swords, making the creature _pay _for all it put him through without rest.

Dark crimson droplets of blood decorated the ends of his twin blades, indicating he had managed to sink the sharp metal deep enough into its flesh to cause a serious wound.

Or maybe more.

_'Good.'_

His mind spat mercilessly as he slashed violently at the thing's muzzle, just as it tried to bite down on his arm, teeth exposed and eyes glowing red like the _pure evil _it was.

Realising it had been unsuccessful, it slunk back into the darkness with a low groan of pain, only to suddenly pop out, seemingly unharmed, for what felt like the _millionth _time... and Leo had grown _accustomed _to it.

He was more than _prepared_, knowing _exactly _what to do, and he watched the shadow of the creature sail through the air as though in slow motion.

And this, he realised, was the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Leo held his stance with a grimace, sword already high over his head, ready to strike down.

He waited until the perfect moment, and with all his existing energy, let out a shout, sinking the sharp metal deep into its almost rotted-looking forehead.

The blade tore easily through the rough skin, the dense muscles… to lodged itself deep into the bone.

The monster _bellowed_, _screaming _in pain as it violently wretched itself away, swinging its freely bleeding skull from one side to the other.

Leo cringed away from the loud, piercing sound, using his left hand and arm to shield his face from the droplets of blood.

Red _coated _the ground, his chest heaving as the buzz within his own blood began to subside. He eyed the thing with his chin held high as it backed away toward the shadows, whining and growling and _seriously _hurt.

_'It's only gonna come __**back**__.' _His mind reminded him._ 'There's __**no way**__ you can keep going on like this... all your adrenaline is __**gone**__... all your strength is __**gone**__... what's gonna keep you on your feet when it returns?' _

But Leo only shook his head, feeling far too triumphant to even give his consciousness the time of day.

He had _done _it! He _did _it!

_I got it on the run!_

His posture relaxed.

_'What are you __**doing**__? Don't let your guard down!' _He heard a voice shriek loudly.

This surprised him.

He had never noticed how... _contradicting _it was. First, it would _patronize _him, tell him he was in over his head… _urging _him to _give up._ Now, it was _begging _him to stay _alert?_

But Leo quickly realised there was a _reason _he had always listened to his gut instinct in the _real world_. No matter how annoying it got, it was for _the best _the voice had _spoken _when it did.

No less than a _moment _after it demanded he get his head back into the game, the monster _returned_.

The leader assumed it had spent its time calculating a _futile plan _as he caught sight of it, screeching terribly as it launched itself at him, large, dark front legs aimed for his _head_.

Without wasting _any time,_ Leo brought up his swords, standing his ground with a weary yet confident grin. He could feel the tiredness in his arms beginning to grow into a dull, pulsing ache, but he _refused _to acknowledge it.

_I can still keep going._

Just as the creature was about to make contact, suspended in the air three feet above the awaiting turtle's head, he watched in a bout of surprise as it abruptly _twisted _its _body_... _curling _itself to the side, _bending _its spine.

Once it _landed_, it did so slightly to his _left_.

Not even pausing to give the turtle so much as a _sideways glance_, the creature quickly raced past him, _bolting _as though there was something _hot on its tail_ rather than attempting to _drag _the leader _down_.

And to Leo's astonishment, it did _not _return straight away.

It did _not _pop out at him a few seconds later as he had learned to expect.

Everything was... _still_.

At first, Leo didn't dare move, frozen in place as his gaze followed towards where it had disappeared. He hesitantly lowered his swords, holding an anxious breath of air.

_'See that, you stubborn fool? You did __**not **__beat that thing.' _The voice returned. _'You are __**not **__getting out of this alive. Just give up. Remember the white flag? Not a bad idea right now... think about it...' _

Leo entertained the idea for a few moments as he slowly breathed, almost feeling a sudden urge to turn away and... and... and do _what _exactly?

He couldn't just up and _leave_; both the _exit _and _entrance _to this world was his very _spirit_.

There was no _physical door _to open.

There was nothing for him to leave out of.

_There is __**nothing**__…__ nothing to __**escape **__to. I have... no __**motive**__. Nothing to fight for…_

Nothing...

The blue masked leader stiffened.

_No_. He stopped himself. _No, there __**is **__something to fight for. To get to the bottom of this. To figure things out. To make sure my brothers don't have to go through with this like I have. _

_My brothers..._

_Mikey and Donnie. And __**Raph**__. _

Raph had run off _because _of him... because he had become far too _attached _to his _role _as leader... _refusing _to be more of a _brother_... _refusing _to lose a member of his _team _rather than a member of his _family_.

More interesting in keeping the _city _safe than his own flesh and blood..

Leo felt sick. _Oh, __**no**__... sensei was __**right**__... I'm becoming-_

A loud, piercing _snarl _derailed his realisations.

The culprit behind the sudden noise would have definitely cut off _more _had Leo not thrust up his katanas, another move done with _solely _instinct. He barely had enough time to block the creature as it _barreled _directly into him.

Leo felt the wind being knocked out from his lungs, the _force _of the creature far too muchfor him to handle without any adrenaline.

A loud gasp left his mouth as he was shoved onto the back of his shell, skull smacking against the hard, solid ground with an audible _crack_.

For whatever reason... the monster _did not _stick around to finish him off.

Instead, it left the mutant lying on the floor, chest heaving as he sucked in deep breaths, his head aching in a repetitive beat that synced up with his heart.

It didn't take a _genius _to realise the creature was acting much _different _than before. And, as much as he _hated _to admit, it made _sense_.

His dreams _had _changed.

Rather than being treated like its _punching bag, _he was able to nail a few pretty good hits on the thing. But it was only fair that _it _got a slice of _power _in return.

_Well played… _He miserably thought, cautiously hauling himself back onto his feet.

The thing was much more… _observant _and _watchful_.

_Scrape… scrape… _

Like a bull _raking _its hoove over the dirt before _charging_, he could make out the sound of the monster scratching the ground with its long claws. It was as though the creature had _sensed _his _disbelief _in its intelligence, sensed his _fear _toward the _actuality_.

But before Leo was even able to pick up his heavy arms which dangled down by his sides, held down by the weight of his swords, it suddenly struck from behind with a _vicious _cry.

With his own shout of surprise, the turtle was able to block the attack against all odds, mostly due to a subconscious need to _protect _his _face _when something came flying toward it.

But this was all the good fortune he would receive, as once again, the weight of the demon sent him crashing to the _ground_. As his skull made contact with the floor for a _second _time, stars _popped _over his vision, and he couldn't help but wonder whether a _concussion _could carry over into the real world.

_With my luck… probably… _

There was almost an urge to _laugh _at the comment. He finally accepted the fact he _wasn't _getting out of his dream _alive_.

There was _no way. _

In addition to his negative outlook, _this time,_ his left arm escaped the fight _decorated _with new, fresh _cuts_. _Deep _gashes, ones which stood _stark _against the pale colour of lighter wrappings.

He gritted his teeth together as he observed the dark crimson dot grow _larger _and _larger_, soaking through the fabric.

_Oh… I see your game… _Leo spat out small clots of blood which had accumulated in his mouth, originating from his split lip.

His mind had commanded him to wipe the dribbling red away, but once he found the strength to actually _move_, his limbs felt… so _heavy_. With both his arms and legs ready to fall out of commission, the floor did not appear to be the most inviting place to be tossed onto like before… _before_, when he was still able to _spring up _and face the _danger _as though it were _nothing_.

Now, as he slowly rose to his feet, he felt much more _shaky _and _unbalanced, _legs _trembling_ and head slightly _spinning_ from the impact.

At least he understood its tactics now: The beast would _pretend _to _attack_, then step away seconds before he either _swung _or _jabbed _his swords toward it.

But _understanding _and being able to _act _upon that understanding was a whole different ball game… one which Leo couldn't seem to wrap his head around no matter what he tried.

Whenever the monster had the chance to _charge_, the leader would _easily _be forced into a _defensive _stance, unable to do much other than, well, _defend_.

Still, he'd _continued _to fight, _refusing _to accept defeat, ignoring the voice which shouted _terrible _things, telling him to _throw his swords down_ and _stop_.

He didn't listen.

But it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

Each and every time, no matter how hard he fought, he always ended up on the _defensive_.

He'd _shove _and _kick _and _twist _and _yank _himself from one side to the next, trying to stay clear of the monster's razor-sharp claws… and those _teeth_.

Whenever he had the chance… and whenever the creature too had the chance to _snap _its _jaws _at him in an attempt to get a small taste, he could see the needle-like _canines _gleaming in its huge, gaping mouth… a mouth which he could easily slip inside of and be eaten if he wasn't careful.

He tried to be _careful_.

He tried to be _bold_, but in his attempts, _underestimated _it instead.

This thing wasn't _dumb_, and Leo felt _embaressed _he had forgotten that if it was able to _twist _and _mold _his dreams as easily as wet _clay_, then obviously, it was beyond his world's rules.

The creature had _learned _his moves, _adapted _to his techniques and counters like a Foot Bot. It _overcame _everything he threw at it, whether it was with _one _sword or _both_, _striking _from _above _or below. He tried to confuse and catch the creature off guard by changing his attacks at the last second, pretending to kick left only to slice at its muzzle with his right sword.

But with his defenses figured out, it managed to land a few more _nasty _cuts along his _arms_, and even once, it _snagged _his leg, _puncturing _the skin with its teeth before letting go to let him _bleed out_.

_Nothing _was working… and Leo was growing _exhausted_.

_Maybe… I was too over-confident… _He confessed to himself as he heaved in deep breaths, his legs _barely _following the commands his brain had for it as he stumbled over his feet. His muscles _ached _and his head _spun _due to constantly being _forced _to _turn _around in _circles _to locate what direction the thing would jump out from next.

But _one thing_ was for certain; his _fear _was beginning to turn into pure _rage _at being _beaten… _by a _figment _of his _imagination_.

This thing… no matter _how powerful _it seemed… was only a _hallucination_.

And to Leo, it felt absolutely _embarrassing _to be bested by something that _never existed_ in the first place.

The turtle bit his bottom lip in a mix between dread and determination, deciding to risk an approach which could _easily _send him straight to _death's door_:

_What's left to lose? Worse case scenario, I wake up. I'll wake up._

With one final breath, he closed his eyes.

And with his vision temporarily inactive, rendering him _vulnerable _to any sort of attack, he _focused _on the _silence… _just how Master Splinter had taught him and his brothers to do.

He patiently awaited, listening as the footsteps around him, once _clouded _and _muffled_, _faint _and _distant_, suddenly became _crystal clear_.

A tired, spent yet confident smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth:

There had been _another change… _and he was _right_!

It wasn't that the creature _couldn't _learn to overcome _this _technique, it was just far too _impatient _to do so. It seeked to destroy him as _quickly _as _possible_, and no matter how _stealthily _it tried to be, its location was _obvious _now:

_Directly behind him_… how _predictable_.

He dared not move until he knew he'd be able to strike at a point-blank range.

Waiting… _waiting… waiting _with a knot of uncertainty in his stomach, a part of him wondering whether the creature knew what he was up to… whether it was _expecting _him…

_Nope._

It was about to _pounce_.

The leader gave a curt nod of his head as an encouragement, keeping himself _going _through the _impossible… _ that was when he snapped open his eyes.

At once, he _whipped _around with a loud shout, thrusting forward _both_ his katanas with all the available energy stored in his _drained_, _bruised _body.

Every intent was set dead on _slicing _the thing into _itty bitty pieces_.

All his nightmares _ended today_.

_ It all __**ends **__today. _

Once he faced the world behind him, teeth _gritted _and anger _boiling_, a temper scalded his usual _level-headed personality_, one which now rivaled Raph's… if not _exceeded_.

He wanted _nothing more _than to watch the demon _writhe _in a pool of its own blood… to hear its _disgusting cries _slowly die down until there was _nothing _left but the _bubbling _of thick, red liquid in its throat. To see its _eyes roll up_ into the back of its skull, knowing they would never _return… _never return and no longer be able to find their way to his brothers and force _them _through everything he had for weeks on end.

His vision took its time adjusting to the blackness… and once he was able to see, he imaged the creature below him, _bleeding_, _dying _and-

Leo nearly _choked_.

_This… this __**can't **__be right. _He tried convincing himself. _This __**cannot **__be real._

'_Why don't you __**listen**__?' _Came the voice; an ugly smile was audible through its tone. _'I __**told **__you already: __**too slow**__. __**Turtle**__'._

Standing in the place where he expected the monster to lay… was _nothing_.

That _cowardly _being had _disappeared_.

Leo felt as though his throat had closed on itself; only incomprehensible noises and unfinished sentences leaving his mouth as his attention darted from left to right… then behind and forward… then right to left… then back to the front… and all over _again_.

His shoulders slumped in _defeat_, tired eyes staring into the room filled with darkness.

It was like an abrupt, sudden _ending _to the horror which had landed him here.

The surrounding air had become _void _of _sound_, _smell_, _wind… _no longer infested with the scent of hot tar and ash. Much to his own surprise, it was all _calm_.

He hadn't even noticed how… _serene _everything was when not fighting for his very life. Up until that point, he had _forgotten _he was still inside his own _consciousness_, and though it was a spiritual location, it remained a part of _him _nonetheless.

Everything was so… _unnaturally _tranquil for what had led up to the quiet moment.

But Leo, although the new environment had taken him by surprise, didn't let the peacefulness _fool him_.

It was as his father had told them,_ 'there is always a __**quiet **__before the __**storm'**__._

He concentrated again, listening deeply with both swords gripped tightly in his hands…

_Talons _clicked along the floor behind him once more,_ closing in _for the kill… the faint sound which carried _unparallel danger _easily _ignited _the last, tiny drops of Leo's _adrenaline… _but he could make do.

He always did.

That final burst of energy sent him into a whole different world; forgetting about his _morals and mercy_, all he could think about was how much he craved to finally put an _end _to the _infestation _that was his nightmares… _permanently_.

With his trusty katanas in hand, he swiftly wheeled around, prepared to face the demon for the last time.

The _last _time…

'_Jeez… you __**never **__learn… do you? And to __**think **__you're trained by the great Splinter. You look like you were taught how to fight by a blind sloth! __**So slow**__…'_

Rather than coming face-to-face with what he had grown to hate, _dripping fangs_, _hooked claws _and a _murderous _creature, he was met with something so _unexpected_, _unpredictable_ and _unusual_, all his thoughts seemed to _scatter_, anger _lost_, and adrenaline _burnt _out:

'_And __**so **__stupid.'_

Calm, forest green eyes stared back at him from the depths of the darkness.

* * *

End Chapter Six

Part One of Two


	8. Chapter 6 (Part 2)

**((A.N. - This is a very short chapter.))**

* * *

Leo felt his limbs stiffen, hands still holding both swords out in front of him as though he were posed to attack, his body stuck in place as his brain raced to catch up with reality. Stunned, his grimace quickly fell.

To his amazement -and _confusion-, _the new beingdid not attack… nor _bolt… _nor _charge. _It simply gazed at him with unblinking eyes, not moving an inch… and so Leo didn't dare budge either.

The body of this… _new _creature, he assumed, was _completely _engulfed by shadows. It stood in silence no less than five feet away, watching his every move with a blank-looking stare, surveying the turtle as he narrowed his own eyes in _uncertainty_, ever so slightly dropping his guard.

The leader couldn't help but stand stock-still, fearing that _any movement _whatsoever, accidental or not, would cause the new being to flee.

It… appeared _harmless_. And strangely enough, this creature didn't possess the same level of _aggression _as the other one.

In fact, to his own surprise, it felt almost… _safe _to be around.

_Almost_.

He lowered his both swords as a mixture of emotions passed through him, beginning with a jolt of _confusion _and finally ending in _unease_. For whatever reason, he couldn't _pin-point _one, _specific _feeling… with the other creature, all he had felt was _rage_.

With this thing, though, he was exposed to so many different sentiments, and he couldn't find _any _sort of courage within him to even _try _and attack.

These eyes, watching him like a _hawk, _looked so… _familiar_.

He almost had the urge to reach out and try to… _feel _who they belonged to.

'_Hey!'_ The voice suddenly called out, snapping him out of his delusions. _'You can't trust __**anything **__here! Remember that!' _

It was only then Leo realised his arm was half-way outstretched. He quickly pulled it back with a gasp.

It could all be a trick by that creature. It could all be something to distract him.

But.. he couldn't exactly believe it.

_Something _about the eyes just felt so close and personal that it was almost like he had seen them somewhere… like they had been watching him before…

Almost like they were his-

'_Figure it out yet, __**leader**__?'_

Leo stopped _cold_, mouth dropping open as the realisation _slammed _into his aura like a runaway bus.

He took a step forward.

The moment his foot touched the smooth ground, sending a shudder up his spine, _two _more pairs of eyes opened up to stare back at him.

They acted the same as the first set: _unblinking… unmoving_.

But _familiar_.

The pair on the left of the first were settled higher up, a dark chocolate colour, while the ones on the far right were perfectly circular and wide, _childish… _a soft baby blue.

Leo _recognized _those colours, the _shapes_, the way they _stared _at him and the way they _watched _his movements… the way they _followed _him.

His mind spewed forth another _rude, condescending _comment, but he didn't seem to hear it.

He couldn't seem to… think about anything right then.

_Those... are my __**brothers**__._

His heart raced a mile a minute, the grip on his swords weakening immediately as his anger and adrenaline fizzled away into _nothing_.

Of all the things he had mentally prepared himself to _expect… _seeing his brothers not _dead_, nor being _killed_, hadn't been one of them.

He took another step closer, without even _realising _it himself. There was a strange sensation that left him feeling _dazed _and _isolated_, easily twisting around his rational thinking.

He forgot all about listening for the footsteps.

And now the strides were slowly _creeping _their way up from behind him.

Leo almost felt his swords _fall _from his hands, grip growing _weaker _and _looser_.

He was about to call out to his brothers, ask them whether they were _hurt_, ready to spill _everything _he knew about the creature and how _dangerous _it was… explain that they _needed _to _get away_ at _once… _

"Guys…" He breathed out, mouth gradually curving up into a huge smile of relief. "You… you won't _believe _what I've been going through…"

'_Hey! You can't trust __**anything **__here! You don't remember that?' _

"Screw off," He hissed at the voice. _I finally found my brothers… my family… and you're here telling me I can't __**trust **__them? _

'_That's __**exactly **__what I'm doing, moron. Isn't it obvious?It's __**sad **__you can't even __**tell the difference **__between your own __**kin **__and those __**monsters**__.'_

_Lies. _Leo growled under his breath, turning his attention back to his family.

'_Fine. Get eaten alive. See if I care.'_

And that was when _one little movement_ changed his _entire _perception of the situation.

Everything seemed to slow the moment the bottoms of Mikey's eye crinkled up, as though he were smiling. Despite the darkness, it radiated a kind, wide smile. A happy, childish _wide _grin.

In fact…Leo noticed that it was… _far _too wide.

There was an expression, _'smiling from ear to ear'_... but Leo was certain that Mikey... this _'Mikey'... _was _literally _smiling from one ear slit to the other.

It was… _impossible_.

It was _unnatural_.

_Disturbing_.

The leader finally, and rather abruptly, stopped his advances once he took notice of this. His left foot was hovering a measly one inch from the ground, and had he taken the step, would have landed him almost two feet from his brothers.

They seemed to be leaning towards him, almost as though about to… reach out at him.

Grab him.

Yes… his… _'brothers'_.

'_Figure it out yet, you __**sorry excuse **__for a __**leader**__?'_

Leo cringed at the words, eyes screaming silent apologies as the three pairs watched him retract his leg away from them and bring it back toward where he stood.

Though it was difficult to muster the necessary courage, he turned away from his _'brothers'_, knowing that if he looked at them, matters would only _worsen_.

Despite how much it hurt himself to say it, he _forcefully _reminded his aura that this… _was all fake._

That stupid voice had been _right… _his instincts had been _right._

And he chose to _ignore _them all in favour of his _emotions _and _desires_.

As much as he _wanted _to believe it, this was all a _fake scenario_ the creature had made for him.

Those were _not _his brothers… they _weren't _real.

Those… _things… whatever _they truly were… were _not _his _brothers_.

'_There you go. __**Finally **__being the leader I knew you could be. Took you long enough...'_

With narrowed eyes, Leo slowly turned his attention and looked back onto the three, a scowl darkening his face as he straightened up to face them.

The eyes seemed much more… _sinister _and _unnerving _than before.

His hands shook with anxiety, but his voice was strong, _fueled _by resentment for having his emotions manipulated.

He couldn't trust _anything _he saw in this world.

Even his… own family.

"_You. __**Aren't**__. Real._" Leo sternly declared with a long pause in between each word, emphasizing its importance. "You… _**are not**_… and _never _will be… my _**brothers**_. My **real **brothers."

Despite how the horrid words burned on his tongue, he felt… rather liberated saying that. To the _imposters_.

To his _'brothers'_.

He stood up a bit straighter.

'_Ooh... shouldn't have done that… you see, your brothers don't like it when you __**don't believe**__ in them…' _

He jolted.

That was… _not _the response he expected to hear from his consciousness.

_But… you… you said it __**yourself**__! They're not… they're… _

For the first couple seconds after his announcement, everything seemed rather _fine_.

Sure, the eyes _had _taken on a saddened facade, and eventually, the youngest's brother's smile fell.

But despite the _unsettling sensation_ that ran like a chill through his bones, Leo figured he could live with that. He figured there was no harm in speaking the truth.

'_Stupid reptile. You will realise your __**error **__soon…'_

The leader groaned at his mind's betraying words, fed up with the constant flip-flopping and about to retort with something along the lines of '_go sit on a cactus'_... but that was when he was _cut short _by a sudden sound:

A _snarl_.

There was a low, _animalistic _grumble from one of the three imposters.

In the long, _dreaded _seconds that followed, giving Leo just enough time to swallow back his fear and avert his attention back onto them, they stepped out from the shadows to expose just how _correct _the oldest turtle had been.

In _no way_ were these his _brothers_.

Their _similarities _ran out rather quickly once their eyes became the _least _of the leader's concerns…

Each of the three creatures had a long and smooth lizard-like figure, walking- no, _stalking _him on all fours while their massive tails swished from side to side as they encircled him… like _sharks _around wounded _prey_.

It seemed as though they all _doubled _in height since emerging from the darkness; the one Leo assumed had been Raph towered over him, easily over _six feet. _

The leader gazed up at the familiar green eyes with an almost _pleading _expression, as though trying to silently communicate the message of no longer wishing to fight… in reality, he no longer _could _fight.

But all three impostors either didn't _care _or didn't take any _notice_, as they continued to slowly walk closer… and _closer… _and _closer… _

Leo backed away on instinct, only to be reminded with a yelp, that he was effectively _trapped_.

The one which had been Mikey teasingly _snapped _its jaws at the turtle's legs, as though trying to make him _lose _balance… trying to make him _fall_. The consequences for such an action would be dire, Leo knew, and he fought to keep himself upright.

Once more, he found himself turning in circles, and a sickening sensation of _deja vu_ struck him as he desperately tried to keep an eye on all three at _once_.

He quickly learned (the _hard way_, no less) that whenever his gaze drifted a bit too far away from one, it would attempt to _sweep _his legs out from under him.

First, the culprit had been _'Mikey'_... then _'Donnie'_.

For whatever reason, _'Raph' _still hadn't made himself out to be much of a _threat_, instead, watching the small turtle spin in circles, feet nearly tripping over one another and costing him a risky stumble.

Leo could feel the side effects of his lost adrenaline creeping up on him; his head _ached _terribly, a _throbbing _sensation which constantly pulled his attention and caused him to lose focus over and over again. His feet were sore and his eyes were blurring reality due to swiveling and twisting his body around and around.

But if he stopped, if he _rested_, if he even _paused _for a _split second_, he would be _caught… _he'd probably be _devoured_.

Breathing hard as he tried to shake the unpleasant thoughts from his already crowded, preoccupied mind, he swore the creatures were slowly closing in on him.

It seemed they were making the circle smaller and more cramped; _claustrophobic_.

'_In a best case scenario, they'll __**bite **__down on your __**head **__first… that way, you won't feel anything else…'_

Leo shivered.

He couldn't _do _this anymore!

He couldn't keep this unstable momentum _going _for much longer. The fight with the demon had spent _all _his energy… and with the addition of his _'brothers'… _it did not help matters.

And now he was _surrounded… _there was _no way out_… no _escape… nothing _to _save him_.

It was a surprising moment for Leo as he realised that he'd rather face the creature _again _than these _counterparts_.

Someone on his left snorted loudly through their nostrils, and from his blurry, peripheral vision, the leader saw one of the creatures hunch down… ready to _spring… _

_Oh no… Don't… Donn-! _But something made him stutter on his younger brother's name.

_Something _made him think over his words… then take them _back_. They didn't seem to fit…

'_These dreams are taking a toll on you, my son. You are losing your focus much quicker than usual.' _Leo blinked roughly, shaking his head and scattering away his haziness.

_No… I'm __**wrong**__. That's __**not **__him. It __**never **__was. Focus… __**focus…**__!_

They were _only _using his brother's identities as a _disguise… _as a means of watching him _fall apart_.

_**Click**_.

The sound came from behind him, indicating one of the creatures was scraping its nails along the ground… _repeatedly… pawing _at the ground… ready to _charge _like a _bull… _

It took Leo all of a single second to whip around toward where the noise was being emitted to realise it was about to _pounce_.

Fearful of what would happen if he remained still, if he just _allowed _himself to be killed, Leo quickly raised both his swords, placing them across each other in an 'x' pattern, and tried to shield the oncoming attack.

To his relief, it never came… rather, it was replaced by another _unfortunate _and _punishing _outcome: with his previously divided attention now focused solely on the _'Donnie' _impostor, it left him _vulnerable… _open for anything that wanted to-

_**Snap**_.

Hot pain _seared _through his entire body as a large mouth, filled with jagged _teeth_, _wrapped _itself around his left leg.

It _tugged_, easily dragging him to the ground… a place he knew he should _not _end up if he wanted to _survive_. He struggled in shock relentlessly, _flailed _even.

A large, front paw suddenly _slammed _down on his right wrist, and he heard a _crack_.

Biting back a cry, he could feel something solid being wretched away from his hand…and eventually, he no longer felt it whatsoever. There was only a faint sound as it crashed to the floor, and a similar sound came from the left as his other hand received similar treatment.

It took Leo a few precious moments before he could finally lift his head and search to find what exactly had fallen from his grasp; he looked at the floor from where he lay, eyes narrowed while his vision remained distorted and disoriented.

He couldn't even be sure if the teeth were still holding him in place, as every part of him _burned _with pain.

Something behind him was on the _move_, walking slowly to his left, when he finally, finally, spotted it: his _katana_, lying only a few inches from where his hand lay outstretched, fingers _twitching. _

He barely even _felt _his wrist at this point, unsure whether the limb even belonged to him.

But he _had _to make a grab for the sword… it was the _only _way… the only thing separating _sweet freedom _and a _gruesome death._

And so, driven forward by the _anger _of having his brother's image _defiled _by _demons_, he grimaced and fought back the pain, wriggling the numbness from his fingers and finally reaching as far as his arm would allow.

His sword lay _discarded_, _forgotten_, _abandoned _on the ground. Left to the elements, _whatever _they were in this world, that is.

But not for long.

The tips of his fingers brushed against the coolness of the red and yellow handle…

'_Almost there…' _His brain encouraged.

A _shriek _caught him off guard, startling him into a frenzy as he tried to glance over his shoulder to see what was happening.

That was when, all of a sudden, he was violently _wretched back… _back and further _away _from his sword… back and closer toward the _monsters… _the _darkness… death_.

His mouth slightly gaped in a silent cry of fear.

_No… no no __**no no**__! __**Grab **__your sword! __**Grab **__our sword! __**C'mon**__! There's __**no **__time! __**Get. Your. Sword! **_

Leo gritted his teeth together as he twisted his torso around as far as he could, catching a swift glimpse of the creature holding his leg in a _cage _of _teeth_.

Without even giving himself a chance to think up a plan, he _acted_.

With a loud shout, he wound back his free leg, noticing the surprise lit up in the creature's eyes, and slammed his foot into its muzzle.

In no time at all, the _'Mikey' _impostor let out such an _animalistic_, _overly dramatic _shriek of pain and surprise, its mouth opening far enough for Leo to retract his freely bleeding leg with no trouble.

The others, however, were far from stunned, and at once they began their advance towards him, black lips peeled back in a snarl.

But it wouldn't matter; the leader had skidded back to where his two katanas lay.

The moment he grabbed them, the creatures seemed to shrink back, as though they had been burned by a fire.

As though they knew how _dangerous _he could be with his weapons at the ready.

A smirk lit up Leo's face at the reaction.

"Hope you've got a _white flag_ nearby…"

* * *

End Chapter Six

Part Two of Two


	9. Chapter 7

**((A.N. - This is the longest chapter I've ever written for this story. I didn't revise much, though, just mostly deleted unnecessary paragraphs. Normal chapters won't be this long, so don't worry.))**

* * *

The black, barren terrain stretched out before him without an end in sight. The air was thick and humid, _clogged _with the bitter scent of dried blood.

_His _blood.

And despite the sudden burst of confidence, there was still the unmistakable sensation of anxiety floating about.

Leo was drained, physically and mentally, from the incessant fighting. The only thing he had to thank for this new burst of adrenaline was the previous and sudden attack, when dagger-like teeth buried themselves into his leg in an attempt to destroy him.

He'd fought it off, but just barely.

And yet, behind all the energy, Leo could tell that his body was growing tired.

His mind was growing tired.

The agreement he's made with his father had all been one horrible mistake. He should have _never _tried to confront whatever was stalking him and do so _alone. _

Backup was nonexistent.

A shame, really.

Especially when considering this new, jagged and evil world that… _thing _had made for him.

_This _world had _no _sympathy towards anything that wound up in its clutches.

The land was nothing short of _unearthly_, the very definition of the state of oblivion. To make matters worse, the area was _void _of the essential ingredients needed to support _life_: there was no running water, no sustainable food, and no trace of sunlight.

Nothing.

No beings should be able to _survive _in the desolate world.

And yet…

_They _did.

Darkness reached its ghostly fingers out for what seemed like _miles _in every angle imaginable, and this _emptiness _remained the only thing standing between the turtle and feral, monstrous creatures about thirty feet away.

They continued to observe him… soundlessly.

_Unmovingly_.

Those three living, _breathing _organisms that thrived despite _everything _in the freakish world working against their favour.

And if they could survive _that_, well…

_No_.

No, he couldn't dwell on that factor. He couldn't afford to think so _negatively_. He had to remain strong.

'You? _Strong_? Don't flatter yourself…'

The leader swallowed thickly. _I really __**don't **__need your attitude right now. _

He couldn't allow himself to forget that _he _was solely in charge of _his _actions.

He couldn't let that stupid voice convince him otherwise, or… or it would all be over.

Leo let out a small breath and gripped the handle to his swords a bit tighter. While he was confident in _his _own skills as a ninja, he wasn't familiar with _their _tactics, _their _method of fighting or if they even had one at _all_.

_Mindless beasts… what are they thinking? __**Are **__they even thinking? __**Can **__they? _

The uncertainty left him with few other choices than to anxiously wait out their strike, but at least he'd see it coming first.

Carefully, he straightened up his position into a defensive stance. _Slowly_.

To avoid drawing too much attention.

_There's no need to panic… it's just like the katas… just like the katas… _Leo reminded himself, forcing his consciousness to override the growing sense of fear by masking it under memories of training.

_Sedate _training.

He could almost hear Raph's snide remarks ringing in his ear; _'What are you, fighting in __**slow motion**__?'_

Leo shivered, wondering whether Raph could have gotten _this _far with his temper and impatience.

He found it more comfortable to not answer. _I always knew taking training slow would come in handy. _

'_But how much __**longer **__can you __**really **__keep this up?' _A familiar voice suddenly spoke, possessing a cold, bitter tone. _'How much longer do you think you can __**hold out**__? Before you __**lose **__your winning streak? Before your __**luck **__runs __**out **__for __**good**__?'_

_Be quiet. This is __**not **__the time... this is __**not **__the time! _

Despite the gnawing concern, Leo's skilled eyes took great care and effort in keeping the monstrous lizards stationed in his peripheral vision due to past sweating hands were trembling as he lightly squeezed the bladed arsenal.

His twin swords seemed to gleam back at him almost encouragingly.

_Almost_.

A dull glow radiated from their sharp steel, his own face staring right back at him, reflecting the image like a grimy mirror.

Or maybe he really did look _that _exhausted, _that _beat up… _that _absolutely worn out.

Like an old, lifeless ragdoll.

_Don't focus on your __**appearance**__, idiot. What are you thinking? _Leo forced back a gasp as he caught himself.

His dark blue eyes flicked back onto the monsters like a light switch, expecting them to have taken the opportunity to advance closer, shifted their position, or even vanished into the surrounding darkness.

But they had not moved an _inch_.

In fact, they barely even appeared to be… _breathing_.

The leader wasn't sure whether to classify his current situation as a _blessing _or a _warning_.

_Maybe both._

It was only then he heard the largest of the creatures prove it was still alive with a harsh and sudden, threatening noise: a sharp snort from its nose, unexpectedly _loud _and _sudden_.

Like it was scoffing at him.

Taunting him.

That particular creature's aura radiated _impatience_ and _aggression._

'_Bet you can tell who __**that **__is, huh?'_ The voice pushed with an audible grin.

The tone made Leo's stomach flip in unease..

Despite all deriving from what appeared to the same species (whatever_ hell spawn _that could be), the creatures each had clear, distinct physical characteristics.

But they were all characteristics _stolen _from his _real _brothers.

'_Raph' _was the largest of the other two in terms of muscle mass, no surprise there. He stood frozen with a hostile expression, ready to raise hell at a moment's notice. His upper lip was pulled back into a silent snarl, revealing sharp, pointed _fangs_, some nearly as big as the leader's entire _palm_.

Leo swallowed a pang of dread, making a quick mental note to keep the hot-head in his view at all times, lest his dream-self suffer from losing a few limbs.

'_That's a pretty damn __**comforting **__thought,' _His brain sarcastically muttered.

_I'm __**not **__saying it again;__** shut up**__ and let me __**concentrate**__. _He scowled.

Contrast to the temperamental turtle's imposter, the creature to his left was rather lanky, with the bones of his shoulder blades and hips faintly, yet noticeably, stretching the pale skin.

'_And who could __**this **__one be?'_ The voice pushed in a feigned, innocent tone.

Leo scoffed internally. _Easy. _

'_Donnie'_ wasn't giving off such an aggressive energy. He remained standing a bit low, almost _slumped _forward, allowing _'Raph' _to take on a more intimidating appearance. His red eyes reflected intelligence as they remained locked onto Leo, observing him quietly, _patiently_… like a hawk.

'_Looks like you've got your hands full with __**this **__mission…' _His mind patronized. _'And your __**real **__brothers aren't even here to __**bail **__you out… looks like you've reached-'_

_**No**__._

Leo forced away the unpleasant predictions.

_**Breathe**__, Leo… this is… __**fine**_._ You can- __**I **__can handle this._ He told himself calmly; his heart was hammering so loud he swore the others could hear it. _There's no reason to worry… __**this **__much. __**Raph **__is the biggest problem… __**Donnie **__is... _

He paused.

_Is there any reason to worry about 'Donnie'? _

The harsh realisation came to him before he could stop himself.

But in all honesty, there was really no denying that Donnie _was _the weakest fighter on their team in terms of strength. Typically, he permitted his brilliant machines and various robots to do the grunt work for him, believing he and his brothers should be able to stay out of harm's way if they had the chance to.

In simpler terms, he was more of a pacifist.

And if this being acted _anything _like the real-world Donnie, then managing to fool this nightmarish version of that brainy introvert would all be a matter of muscle memory.

Leo softly bit his tongue as his strategy became crystal clear: the plan would function properly as long as _'Donnie' _was kept distracted and second-guessing.

He had a hard time fighting without thinking.

_So far so good. _He gave himself a mental pat on the back, boosting his confidence. _So far so good… _

But the mood quickly shifted, the atmosphere turning sour as the thought of his _youngest _brother floated almost tauntingly into his mind…

Leo's previous self-assurance fell to the floor. '_He' _was who concerned the leader the _most_.

Mikey, always the spontaneous, energetic and _unpredictable _member of the team, gave the leader the _worst _sense of unease.

As the turtle's eyes flickered down the line, his youngest brother's counterpart appeared lost in thought, baby blue eyes lost in a thousand-yard stare.

His mouth rested wide open, allowing all the sharp teeth to be put on display as though he had stopped mid-pant. A ghoulish smile was etched into his freckled face.

He had always been the easiest to read, the easiest to tell if something had upset_, _disgusted or interested him.

And now, he looked excited, his low posture mimicking that of a cat preparing to pounce.

The orange ninja had a habit of acting far too _childish _for his seventeen years of age, and it seemed that trait had carried over. Even when the four entered a deadly battle, more often than not, Mikey's behaviour would lead both his brothers and enemies to constantly underestimate his skills.

But if the_ real-world _Mikey was able to become alethal threat when he decided to concentrate, Leo didn't even want to imagine what _this _version of him was capable of.

And he hoped he wouldn't have to stick around in this horrible world long enough to find out.

_Okay… okay… keep __**Raph **__in my view... he'll use his weight against me... stay away from __**Mikey… **__I have __**no **__idea what he'll do… that leaves __**Donnie**__. He'll be the __**easiest… **__he's going down __**first**__. _

_**Scriiiitch.**_

Leo didn't find himself flinching at the sound, but to claim it didn't send his nerves on fire would be a lie.

'_Raph' _had extended out his long claws, the sharp tip piercing through whatever material the ground in the surreal environment was composed of. His head slightly dipped down, while on his left, _'Donnie' _straightened up his own stance.

Their jaws were slightly moving, almost like a cat chattering; they were _communicating_.

Leo stared back motionlessly, eyes narrowed in a dangerous display while his swords begged for action; he ignored it to the best of his ability, as now, intimidation and resourcefulness was key.

His plan revolved around his brain like a carousel.

'_Go now!' _Came the sudden shout of encouragement, originating from his subconsciousness; it sounded _almost _genuine. '_It's __**now **__or __**never**__! Don't let them get the __**upper hand**__!' _

Leo almost scoffed. _Why are you __**worried**__? _He dryly asked, not expecting a kind answer. _Shouldn't you be __**hammering **__my head with how __**worthless **__you think__I am? _

'_Good point, but if you're __**ripped **__to __**pieces**__, __**I'll **__be the one saying, 'I told you so' in the end. Oh, wait…' _The voice paused dramatically. _**'No**__, I won't… you'll be __**dead**__. Because you __**didn't listen**__.'_

The leader managed to force back a frustrated groan, but his gut instinct urged him to follow through with the demand… to obey that _stupid _voice.

'_It's __**now **__or __**never'**__. _Came the echo.

Leo gritted his teeth together, bunching up the muscles in his legs. _I go on my __**own **__time… _He growled domineeringly._**I'm **__the only one here who can call the shots, and I'm __**not **__taking orders from some __**stupid figment **__of my imagination. _

_And __**I **__say… _

He sucked in a shallow breath.

"_Now!"_

And immediately _charged_.

Emotions surged through his mind, one after the other, so fast he hardly had time to even recognize what they were as he put his plan into motion.

It would take _years _to try and figure out what exactly he was thinking… putting himself into such a valuable position, out in the open… out for everything to get him. But one piece of truth remained: for once in his life, for once in all his years of existence… he was barely even thinking at all.

And this was not in terms of fighting.

No notions passed through his mind as he ran.

_Nothing_.

Everything was quiet.

A hot rush of adrenaline rapidly spread throughout his veins as his body propelled itself forward with all the remaining might it had left, stomach lurching in fear that would eventually be buried away under layers of determination.

His feet thundered against the ground faster and faster, their speed contradicting how incredibly unstable his upper legs felt under him, as though they were seconds from giving out.

Every part of him ached.

But this was not important.

After all… _he_ had snatched the upper hand.

_He _had gotten the jump on the creatures.

And he _wasn't _letting that advantage go.

The others grew aware of this in time, though.

'_Raph' _was the first to react only seconds afterwards, eyes narrowed into dark slits as he let out a loud, nearly ground-shaking bellow. He placed himself into an attacking stance, tail lashing and claws ready to sink into the soft, bloodied flesh of its victim.

But Leo wasn't deterred in the least.

_If I die, at least I'll go down knowing I tried to __**destroy **__evil. These creatures will __**never **__forget that not every host they infect is so… __**complacent**__._

'_Have you ever wondered what these __**things **__may have __**done **__with your __**real **__brothers?' _His consciousness asked flatly, changing the subject just to tease him. '_Perhaps they were __**already killed**__. Already __**devoured**__. __**Ripped **__apart, limb from limb. In that case, best not keep them __**waiting…'**_

Leonardo gritted his teeth together, trying to push away the resentment, knowing he'd get sloppy if his actions were fueled by anger alone. Aggression could only get a ninja so far; agility and stealth were essential skills, too…

But judging from the monster's absolute size, nimbleness would not be their key trait.

'_You're gonna get __**torn **__to __**shreds… **__you know that… __**right**__?'_

The turtle's grip on his swords tightened. _I can't __**wait **__until I'm back in the __**real world**__… _He stated simply. _Then I'll __**never **__have to listen to you __**again**__._

And this _want, _this _hope _of eventually gaining back his brain's _silence_, was accompanied by his self-worth,_ desperate _to show this freakish world he still had the ability, dream or not, to take on _whatever _enemy was thrust his way.

No matter _what _it tried to take the shape of.

'_Raph' _made the initial move, head low as he trailed a sort of half-circle toward the leader, slowly, _leisurely_, coming in at his far right. His claws dragged along the ground with every step, _threateningly_; it was difficult to tell whether the action was intentional or not.

'_Keep Raph in my view' _He reminded himself, just barely able to make the large beast from the corner of his eye. It was circling him… _stalking _him… almost _begging _him to fully shift his attention away so the others would have time to attack from the front… an _ambush_.

_That… that must be their plan! _He realised suddenly with a faint pang of alarm. _But I __**can't **__stop now. _

His brain wasn't even _comprehending _his actions, or perhaps no longer even _trying_… every part of him set on strictly autopilot.

'_Raph' _was finally wrapping back around, now reentering the fight on the leader's left with an intimidating sneer.

But Leo had his sights dead-set on one being and one being alone: the _frailest _one.

'_Donatello'_.

A deadly gleam was visible in his usual calm-tempered eyes.

'_You __**won't **__be able to beat this, Leonardo. You've already __**lost**__.'_

His consciousness mocked _mercilessly_, attempting to sidetrack him from the task at hand.

But the leader had hardly even heard it's snobbish remark. Against his moral judgement, he couldn't deny the fact the katanas in his hands were itching for blood. He… he wanted them to _pay _for what they had done to his real brothers. He didn't want a single drop of blood to be left in their beastly bodies.

These horrific _frauds._

_Fakes_.

_**Enemies**_.

The entire world seemed as though its orbit had paused at the mention of that one word, the one his family associated with the Foot Clan, with Shredder, with the Triceratons… the one _he _associated with these monsters, with whatever was lurking in his aura… not his own _brothers_.

_But these __**aren't **__them. These are __**not **__my brothers. _Came a soft, reasonable voice, pulling and pushing at his sanity.

The leader was gambling with a game of _risk_, _chance_, and stalling the inevitable had _no _place here. His metaphorical dice rolled along the ground… _closer _and _closer_…

Their outcome would determine his fate, and for now, he could only pray the other three would receive snake eyes…

'_Raph' _was itching for an excuse to bolt.

'_Mikey' _was about to leap.

But _'Donnie' _simply remained frozen in his tracks, claws outstretched yet somehow not exactly sure what to do with them. He had developed a fascination with the action of backing up, continuously putting more distance between itself and the rapidly advancing ninja. His long, thin tail quivered in a fearful anticipation, eyes dilated until the pupils were no longer even _visible_.

He was _hesitant_.

Like he was waiting for one of his _inventions _to finish the job for him.

_No… it's __**terrified**__._

Leo's grin widened, knowing _he _was the sole reason it was scared stiff, unable to move, feeling as though its limbs had turned to _stone_.

He winded back his left arm in preparation.

_Now or never. _A voice urged; it sounded almost like his _father's_.

The blue ninja's eyes widened at the realisation, and the belief urged him on, encouraged him… gave him the will power to make his move without the slightest warning_._

'_Mikey' _expectedly leaped out of the way with an excited cry, cementing the notion of all this being a _game _to him; simple, innocent fun and jokes, nothing too take too seriously.

Poor fool.

'_Donnie' _had more common sense regarding the dire situation; the fresh scent of raw fear came rolling off his body in thick waves as he fruitlessly tried to follow a similar escape route. Unlike the smaller creature, who was built more compactly, he, on the other hand, had become almost _twisted _in his own long limbs as he turned to flee.

The purple impostor froze, tensing up every muscle in his body, feet glued to the ground as a white gleam momentarily blinded him… rendering him unable to counter.

_Helpless_.

Leo swung his sword down with a confident shout.

The katana made instant contact with the pale flesh of its side; the creature was still turned away from him, almost as though it had believed it could make it.

Believed it could escape.

Using the remainder of his energy, he twisted his arm and sunk the weapon in as deep as he could force it, shouting as he did so.

Dark blood spurted out around the blade, but there was no cry of pain from the monster. There was no roar of anger. There was only silence, absolute _agony _washing over its body until its jaws locked together in an attempt to preserve it's brave facade.

But those walls were crashing down.

The sound of tearing, wet flesh and dripping blood, right next to his ear slit, was _sickening_, gut wrenching and _nauseating_, without a voice to mask it… and so Leo started to scream, to try and hide the horrific noises behind his own shouts. And then he started to slice even further.

A cut about four feet was sliced across the demon's stomach, about three quarters of its entire body length. Eventually, Leo found the mental strength to pull the blade out, his breathing nothing more than sharp gasps as he took uneven steps and wobbled away backwards.

He stopped moving once he felt he was far enough away… and that was when something warm and damp ran down his fingers… down from the handle of his sword…

Sweet mother of mutagen… his weapon was so _bloody… _

So bloody.

Leo's breathing remained shallow and unrhythmic, panicked and stressed, until the remembrance of the healing hands crossed his unsteady mind. He had no time to recite the mantras, but just the thought of the words helped him to calm down, helped to restore his perception of reality.

And then, he returned to the moment.

Damn… he had the _worst _headache of his life…

With a grimace, Leo stole a quick, disoriented glance down at his hands, feeling absolute disgust at how dark they had become… had he rubbed his hands in dirt or something?

No… no this place had no dirt… just solid ground. It was… it had to be…

His throat closed on itself.

_Blood_.

His hands were coated in dark, almost _black _blood.

_Did I…? Did I do that? _He wondered sluggishly, his lips moving in sync with the words, but unable to actually voice them. His eyes darted back up, adjusting to the darkness a bit better than before.

A trail of crimson droplets lead directly to one of the creatures, the closest one… the purple one. His gaze immediately locked onto it, observing its posture, its movements… its injuries.

It was limping, swaying on its feet; _hurt_.

Hurt because of him.

'_But it's still alive.' _His brain called, snapping back into its unfeeling characterization.

It was only mere seconds before the creature spun itself around on wobbly feet, face squinting in pain as it observed its assailant with narrowed, almost puffy eyes. Leo's chest heaved as he held his right sword up, parallel to his shoulder, and waited.

And focused. And forgot all about the outside world.

Something flew by him, but he brushed it off as his brain playing tricks to get him to lose concentration.

To fall victim.

But he would not give in.

Ironic how it turned out.

A piercing shriek butted into his thoughts, barrelling over his mind.

Not even a moment later, a large, clawed paw came flying toward his face, leaving him with milliseconds to react. With reflexes faster than he ever thought he was capable of, he ducked away, using his left-sided sword to roughly push away the bullet-fast limb with all his strength.

He could tell the blade had sliced something important, something _valuable_, as a shrill yelp fell from the purple beast's mouth. On unsteady feet, it raced past him, nearly collapsing on the ground a few feet away once it felt safe… or perhaps it was just too tired to attempt an escape.

It lifted its front leg at once, inspecting the bloodied gash with foggy eyes before carefully testing its claws, extending then retracting them.

Slowly.

It wasn't giving any indications of even trying to defend itself anymore., and even if it were currently plotting its next course of action, the damage had already been done: the front leg it had slightly raised off the ground was bleeding heavily from one of the claws, signaling that it had gotten snagged on the sword.

Torn out.

Hurt beyond repair.

That claw would not grow back.

Leo let out a harsh breath.

_Okay… okay. Doing pretty good… but I __**need **__to get this one out of the way… it won't be that hard to deal with…especially now. _He reasoned with the best intentions in mind. Without thinking, he quickly sneaked his way over toward the preoccupied creature; a gust of wind blew past behind him, but he ignored it, gripping his weapon.

Quietly, he raised his ready hand high over his head, ensuring it would have enough momentum to hack out a large chunk from the scared-stiff creature's back legs. Hopefully, he mentally prayed, if the wound was deep enough, it would render the beast unable to walk, knocking it out of the fight for good.

_Time to __**finish **__you… _

He jerked his arm down in a sharp motion, the blade of his katana appearing as nothing more than a grey and red blur. He could already _hear _the wet sound as the steel cut through flesh…

The creature glanced over its shoulder, brown eyes wide, sparing a second before-

**Pain**.

"_What the_-?" Leo's voice cut itself off, terror flooding through his system as an explosion of searing _agony _assaulted his nerves and _rocketed _through his entire body like a fever, almost sending him into shock. For a moment, he wondered whether he was feeling the paint of the creature, but one bewildering glance at the other lizard confirmed his suspicions to be _very _false.

It had no new injuries.

The demon remained a trembling mess, afraid and uncertain for sure, but nevertheless, rather unscathed compared to what _could _have happened.

But this raised the question.

_W-what __**did **__happen? What… what…? _Leo's brain felt as though it were _physically _slurring his thoughts. His plan crumbled to pieces around him, and only when he noticed the crimson fall from his arm drip onto the ground, did reality sink in.

_Something got me. _

A flash of hot, gut-wrenching pain washed through his body as he struggled to turn his head and catch sight of his aggressor:

Orange filled his vision.

'_Mikey'_.

His brain couldn't seem to comprehend the innocent, freckled face staring back at him. He had been expecting that brute, _'Raph'_, not his youngest brother… not innocent, fun-loving Mikey!

But that self-titled _prankster _hadn't jumped out of the way to _avoid _him… he had been _leading _him into a _trap _the whole time… allowing him to believe he'd face only _one _of the three monsters…

_It __**was **__an ambush! __**Dammit**__! _The injured turtle swore, his struggles triggering a spark of childish joy and exhilaration in the creature's bright, blue eyes. _It __**is **__all a game to him… _

He _had _to get out. He _had _to get free.

He _had _to put an end to this.

Leo wretched his arm forcefully, trying to repress his cries and ignore the jolts of blistering pain which sent his entire body into near convulsive-like shudders. The sensation of tears streaming down his face felt like a direct kick to his confidence.

It simply accented the agony.

_This __**can't **__be real. This __**can't **__be real._

The creature's head and jaws followed his every move, not giving him a chance to tear his limb away. His head was growing dizzy from the affliction, the one-sided fight _draining _him of all energy.

Then, just when he was sure nothing could _possibly _make the situation any _worse _than it already was, his peripheral vision caught sight of a faint, blurry outline of a robust body slowly walking his way, head low, tail swishing from side to side slowly…

'_Raph'_.

That damn _wrecking ball_ of a ninja. The type of mutant who'd rather shoot _first _and ask questions _never_.

The turtle's eyes widened.

_I'll __**die **__if he gets to me! _He realised with a sharp twist of his gut, the very words igniting his struggles once more. _Let me… let me __**go**__! __**Let me go!**_

Fearful motivation was all he needed to get his act together; _charged _by his frustrations and panic, Leo managed to pull his _other _arm far enough over his chest, quickly winding back his shoulder as far as his bruised body would allow.

"Let's see how well you can hold onto things with a _gaping hole _in your _mouth_!"

At the sound of the harsh announcement, the orange creature's eyes stretched open wide, understandment flooding through his suddenly dread-filled gaze as he frantically tried to let go… but his teeth had sunk too deep into the turtle's arm to allow for a clean break-away.

It appeared that his previous 'game' had become the sole reason behind his downfall, as there was_ no way_ he'd retreat in time… and the leader knew this.

And he exploited it.

Leo swung his sword over his chest.

The sharp edge made severe, both _visible _and _audible_, damage the moment it fell into contact with the creature, and he buried his sharp weapon deep into the rotting muzzle that held his bleeding limb hostage.

The monster _shrieked_, its mouth opening to the point of appearing disjointed, granting the leader just enough time to swiftly tear his arm away; the twin katana had never left his grasp. A trail of dark blood originating from a gash on his wrist dripped all the way down to the very tip of the blade.

But the sword would _not _be satisfied with any blood of his _own… _

Something sharp suddenly nipped at his heels, and Leo's head flew over his shoulder to catch sight of the _'Donnie' _impostor_. _Upon noticing the leader's dark, angry eyes, he backed away, _terrified _he had gotten caught. His legs were trembling and his flesh seemed rather pale, much lighter in tone than before.

It was clear the cuts Leo had given him previously were doing harm… _great _amounts of harm. _Exactly _as he wanted it, as now, the creature didn't seem to be making plans to attack, more focused on backing away… _away_...

_**Good**__. Stay like that. _Leo whispered to himself, suddenly recalling his father's words of advice from their first trip to the surface world:

'_**No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. It's how you react to the unexpected which will determine whether you and your brothers succeed.'**_

Leo gave a curt nod and quickly revised his plan, determining the creature which took the youngest ninja's identity would crave his attention first and foremost. _ I'll deal with you later, Don… I have to get to- _

A hot breath made contact with his shoulder.

Leo whipped around with a rough grimace, barely even processing the wickedly thrilled face of _'Mikey'_ before the monster made its move.

A move which came with _error_.

He clearly was following the same attack strategy from before, though now it was directed straight at the leader's undamaged, _right _arm.

But there was a mistake in his logic Leo knew _all too well. _

'_Mikey' _was the naive little brother who'd constantly duplicate his attacks in the dojo, somehow believing that repeating his moves would catch his opponents off guard. Rarely, this strategy worked in practice, as more often than not, the brothers saw his attacks coming from a mile away.

Just like now.

The leader ignored his terrorizing anxiety as he stood awaiting the oncoming attack, both katanas grasped out by his sides. His stance widened as the muscles in his legs bunched together, eyes reflecting an image of sharp teeth coming _closer… _and _closer… _and-

_**Now**__!_

The orange impostor's wide, open mouth was no less than a few inches from his other arm when the leader seized the clear opportunity to strike; he roughly jammed the blade of his sword under its bottom jaw, sending it straight through the softer, fleshy part. The slash met its mark with a wet sound, and for a horrible, _split _second, the very tip of the sword was visible from beneath its tongue.

Roaring, shock and betrayal filled its child-like blue eyes as it violently tore itself away, shaking its bleeding head from side to side.

_I can repeat my attacks too, you beast. _Leo mentally spat with gritted teeth. _I'm __**not **__letting the rest of you get away so easily. _

With the creature momentarily distracted by blinding pain, the leader stole the opportunity to cause more damage without so much as a second thought.

Swiftly, and with barely harbouring _any _ideas that could even qualify as a plan, he slid under the length of the creature'sbody, using both his swords to cut deep slivers from the inner hind legs.

He cleared the monster's tail by the skin of his _shell _as it trashed wildly, resorting to backflipping onto his feet just moments before the huge, clawed feet stomped against the ground in an attempt to _crush _him.

A _terrible _noise filled the air as _'Mikey'_ continued tocry out, a shrill, _dramatic _sound; he nearly collapsed to the floor because of his overreaction.

Despite his front left leg being slightly bent in an awkward direction, he nevertheless remained rather stable on his feet. Soon, the roars began to diminish in favour of deep growls. The creature then snorted, an angry, _dismayed _noise, blood dripping from his mouth and a thin, red stream escaping from his nose.

'_Mikey' _refused to let his front leg touch the ground, giving clear indication he would have trouble attacking when his only mode of transportation was limping on three wobbly feet.

Leo's grip on the katanas threatened to slacken, but he caught himself at the last second.

_I __**can't **__let myself get __**distracted**__. _He scolded, sternly yanking his attention back into the heat of the moment, _reminding _himself the danger wasn't over just _yet_. There was no time to even _think _about relaxing or taking a break.

_It's __**not **__over yet._

But as he mentally glossed over those exact words, he couldn't help but notice just how fuzzy his vision was growing around the edges, how sounds played more muffled and distant than how they had a few minutes ago.

It was a consequence of his own blood loss, he assumed far too casually.

_Far _too casually.

Every part of him was numb, cold… _unfeeling_. He quickly sniffed as something warm ran down from his nose, and one wipe of his hand confirmed his susptions: blood.

He hadn't even realised he had gotten cut during the fight.

_When did… when…? _

Footsteps.

Dwelling on the past wouldn't do any good now.

Only the dampened sound of _'Raph' _and _'Donnie' _walking closer and closer brought him back into the heat of battle.

How long had he been here? How long had he been forced to fight? An hour? Two? _Ten_? Maybe he'd been stuck here for _days_. Weeks.

Hell, he'd even be generous enough to assume _months_.

Time wasn't a concept here.

But the two creatures who continued to close in on him were, their monstrous figures emerged from the darkness on either side of him, their steps in sync with the other.

It almost looked rehearsed, deliberate, like they had been expecting the events to lead into this one.

Without warning, the temperamental fraud suddenly began to slow his pace until he stopped altogether, standing roughly twenty feet away while the other kept advancing. It was like he was a spectator, prepared to watch the fight unfold from a distance.

This odd display from the brother who was constantly battle-hungry, itching for any excuse to punch someone, gave Leo chills, but at the moment, he could only thank his lucky stars that the red monster wouldn't be a problem for a little while… hopefully.

Leo knew his time to strike would be severely limited if he allowed the red creature to change his mind and decide to close the gap between them. And so, without wasting another precious second, he picked his next victim and slowly, almost _menacingly_, turned to face it with a scowl.

He had unfinished _business_, anyway…

'_Donnie'_.

The imposter, upon noticing it was the centre of attention, raised its head and unsheathed its sharp claws in preparation. One of those claws was missing.

Then came the sound of a deep growl, a low noise that vibrated through the creature's throat, cutting off the previous silence, almost making the authenticity of its powerful and courageous facade believable… _almost_.

Leo could _feel _the thick, unwanted sensation of _terror _rolling off the monster in waves as it fidgeted, trying to appear menacing.

He figured his best course of action would be to distract the creature with _one _sword while making vital blows with the other, recalling how it previously acted when confronted. Its focus would shift and center onto one, _single _object… not two.

"I've got this," Leo encouraged himself softly, keeping his breathing under control and forcing away the notion of _'Raph'_.

"Come at me, _freak_."

At the sound of the statement, heavy feet pounded over the ground without a moment to spare. A roar filled the blood-scented air as the previously meek lizard barreled towards him, attempting to use its weight to its advantage.

Or so it _thought… _

Leo stood his ground as the monster closed in on him, his memory sifting through the times when he had fought against the Shredder, Tigerclaw, Razar, even soldiers from the Triceraton Empire.

They were all dangerous foes, without a doubt, much _bigger _and _stronger _than he was or ever would be. To put it short, Leo had quickly learned to use his smaller frame and agility against their strength and absolute brute force.

Just as now.

_This better work!_

Leo waited until the last possible second, until he saw his own reflection, clear as day, in the monster's wide, dark eyes.

He leaped up the moment he nearly collided with the creature's bottom jaw, its mouth stretched wide open, clearly unhinged and teeth prepared to snap close. Time slowed as he looked down at the demon from his place in the air, noticing how it futilely tried to stop itself, feet lightly skidding along the ground.

But the leader was already beginning his final move. The second his feet hit the cold, scaly surface of the impostor's nape, he let out a shout and jammed his right sword into its flesh.

Then he continued running.

The monster shrieked with enough force to shatter windows as the cut widened along its back, momentarily causing Leo's ability to hear dampen. The creature wildly twisted its head and body around, trying to bite or at least wretch the turtle off… but the attempts were to no avail.

The leader was far too quick, far too agile.

A long, thin cut stretched from its shoulder blades to its flank, drentching its scales with deep crimson. The smaller being responsible for the damage hadn't even stopped to realise the other two demons were closing in on him until he heard a shriek coming from… above.

The more compact creature had made its move before he could even realise what it was doing; at first, it tried trapping Leo, jumping with claws unsheathed and teeth gleaming toward him.

Directly above _his _head… but also above the other monster's flank.

A plan popped into Leo's mind.

'_Too slow, Mikey,' _

Without giving himself a chance to recover, Leo somersaulted off and away from the slimmer creature's back, watching with a blank, cold face as the smaller lizard was unable to stop his momentum in time.

Ultimately, the B-Team's counterpart's crashed into one another, falling into a writhing heap of limbs and tails, screeching and clawing.

However, _'Mikey' _was rather resilient, quickly hopping back up onto his feet with a growl. The fall had been nothing to him, just another obstacle.

But _'Donnie' _did not appear as optimistic of the sudden tumble. In fact, he appeared far more… _wait.._.

'_Donnie' _hadn't gotten back up.

He remained unmoving on the ground, a pool of deep red accumulating under him, chest rising in short and shallow bursts. It was fading.

Slower and slower… until it was barely even visible.

He would not be returning to the fight.

'_One down, two to go,' _Leo mentally urged on, eyes darting to spot 'Mikey' almost _bouncing _on his feet. _'Raph' _was by his side in no time flat, but he seemed more… _panicked_, an odd change of pace from his usual aggressive and hostile nature.

His once confident movements were jagged, _sudden_, and his eventual reaction stumped the leader into staring dumbfounded as that _heartless _creature lowered his head to meet _'Donnie'._

The red monster appeared as though he were… _fearfully _acknowledging the limp and bleeding body of his 'brother'. He roughly nudged the scarred flesh with his muzzle, once, twice, trice… nothing.

Then he repeated the motion, although this time it was gentler.

He still received no response. Soft noises escaped past his jaws as if he were confused or unsure why the other beast wasn't standing back up. _'Mikey' _was chirping back at him impatiently, _frantically_.

Leo felt his eyes slightly burn at the sight, but he blinked it away. He almost felt… bad.

_Almost_.

_This could be a trap. _He told himself. His gaze faltered between the hothead and the youngest ninja.

The orange monster'slimping had gotten progressively worse, now much more than a slight jump to his walking movement- his entire left back foot was raised from the ground and locked at the height of his knee.

Leo let out a sharp breath, collecting his thoughts, and frantically formulating a plan. _Mikey's next. He's already hurt. He'll be easy to take out. _

But _'Raph' _seemed to like putting a dent in that plan.

The larger creature made a sort of grunt-like noise, as though making a demand, and his subordinate quickly followed through. _'Mikey'_, despite his obvious injury, began to break from the rest of the remaining pack, moving to circle Leo just as _'Raph' _had done previously.

Leo realised their plan in a heartbeat… but the comprehension nearly sent him stumbling backwards.

_Raph's gonna charge, _He told himself, cementing his anticipating fear. _Mikey's there to keep me from running too far… not cool…definitely not cool…_

Suddenly, a glass-shattering bellow split the thick air, forcing Leo to immediately drop his weapons out of shock and cover his ears.

His entire body instinctively flew into defense; legs bent and spine arched until his elbows touched his knees, shielding away his chest. From his blurry perspective, cracking open a singal, squinted eye, he caught sight of a dark green mass barreling towards him.

Realising he had little to no time to react, Leo at once scrambled to retrieve his discarded katanas in a fluid swoop of his hands.

_ C'mon, think of a plan! Think of a plan! I don't have time to waste!_

No less than a moment later, as his frantic planning began to dissolve into acceptance of just winging the oncoming fight, a feral, animalistic sound tore through the air.

It was a threatening roar, one which demanded Leo's full attention, not caring whether he was prepared to split his concentration or not.

But unlike before… the sound was closer…

And accented with blistering _pain_.

"_Hey_!" The shout was knocked from his lungs before he could even comprehend the actions unfolding around him. All he could make out was the solid ground, his hands stretched out in front of him, still holding desperately onto his swords.

With a grimace, Leo turned his head over his shoulder, already knowing who had ambushed him:

'_Mikey'. _

The orange monster was holding the leader's right leg in his powerful jaws, breaking the rough skin in a number of different places. He was almost dragging the turtle backwards, his body as responsive as a ragdoll.

Perhaps he had forgotten about the youngest ninja… but _'Raph' _did not have a similar fate.

Leo knew he was being held captive for the hostile counterpart to destroy him.

'_Told ya,' _He heard the voice suddenly pipe up. _'You're gonna get ripped to pieces.'_

"**Shut up**!" Leo snapped, not even realizing he had spoken out loud.

'_Raph' _was so close to them by now; Leo had to make a move or it would all be over.

With a grimace, he relinquished his sword, making room as he wriggled his wrist until the spare knife his father insisted they all keep under their arm wraps dropped into his palm. Though the angle he was currently forced into was unfortunate, he didn't let it stop him; he wound his arm to the floor metally pictured where the beast's head could be based on how it was holding his legs.

Then, confident with the angle, he flung it backwards.

_Shunk. _

A wet sound accented with a loud shriek marked the moment the blade made contact with the creature's head. It's jaws open, and just as before, Leo pulled himself away, ducking into a roll and landing on his bloodied feet.

He looked behind him… and his eyes stretched wide:

'_Raph' _had just leaped.

With extended claws and gleaming fangs, his eyes were dilated as he hung suspended in the air for a fraction of a second. Leo's brain stopped responding at the sight of horrid, agonizing teeth, his stomach flipping and mouth gaping…

The monster came closer and closer…

'_**Move**_**!' **Came a desperate shout from his brain, snapping him back into reality. _**'Get out of there, dammit!**_'

It only took him a millisecond to realise what to do next.

He held his quickening breath and ducked down into a forward roll once more, protecting his head as he instinctively made his move… but it lacked his full concentration, his mind far too focused on the _teeth… _the _claws… _the burning, angry _eyes… _

And that was his error.

The defensive strategy put into motion had been too clumsy, form appearing novice at best.

There was a growl from above him, sending his heart into his throat as blood roared like a waterfall in his ears; ultimately, he avoided the conflict with luck, not skill.

He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

The feeling of cold, sharp claws scraping at his carapace, just as he managed to barely clear the gnashing jaws directly above him sent shivers down his spine.

They had only been _inches _away from his flesh. His mask had gotten snagged, the very tip of the tails, and the fabric was pulled up onto his forehead. One hand grabbed at the bandana while the other assisted his legs in pushing him off of the ground and further away… away.

And nothing followed.

Leo awaited fangs to clamp down against his legs as he unsteadily rose onto his feet, but there was no sign of oncoming ambushes.

He had escaped their clutches.

But the creatures couldn't escape themselves.

'_Raph' _was unable to stop his weight as gravity began to work its foreseeable magic. His body was aimed directly at where 'Mikey' had been previously holding the turtle captive… just for him… for him to tear apart.

But Leo had broken free… and the smaller monster was still pawing at his left cheek, trying to remove the small blade wedged deep into his flesh like an inconvenient, nasty thorn.

Leo's shell was facing the oncoming, unavoidable disaster when he heard the two crash into one another. There was a loud thump, and he couldn't help but turn around to see what the aftermath of the botched plan would be.

A cry.

'_Mikey' _was lying on the ground, a large set of claw marks streaked down his exposed, left side. Standing over him, however, with his head hanging low, nose almost brushing the wounds, was _'Raph'. _

Hisclaws were stained with blood.

_Those were meant for me. _Leo realised with a shudder, eyeing the inch-thick set of gashes.

But the youngest being didn't stir nor twitch when the snout of the larger creature made contact with his scales. Rather than responding to the touch, he remained motionless, sides only slightly rising and falling to show he was barely clinging onto life.

The leader signed out heavily at the sight, his energy rapidly depleting.

He couldn't go on for much longer. _But there's only one left… one left… _He mentally thought, almost encouragingly. _It's almost over, Leo… keep it up, man… _

But _'Raph' _still hadn't made a move. He just… continued to _stare _at the other body resting on the floor, his own chest heaving as uneven breaths racked his body. Eventually, he began to slowly turn and face the leader, standing in a way so that he shielded most of the wounded orange demon.

So he _defended _him from further injuries…

_Sheltering _him… just like how Leo always did with his world's Mikey.

Blinking in surprise, he swore that, for a split second, he had felt a stab of empathy.

_That thing is… trying to __**protect **__the others. It's… __**family**__. _His chest suddenly tightened. _I… I __**hurt **__them… b-but they were trying to hurt __**me**__! It was all __**self defense**__! _

Suddenly, he paused, and a low groan managed to slip past his lips.

"N-no… what am I _saying_? None of _this _is real! None of _them _are real. I'm just… _meditating… _I'm still in the dojo… this isn't real."

His head throbbed with every beat of his heart. _I just want to go home… is that too much to ask? _

'Raph' was still staring at him once he found the mental strength to gaze up, blue eyes stinging as fresh tears threatened to fall.

He was just so done with this.

So finished with everything he had dealt with.

If there had been something he was supposed to learn from all this torment, then the greater force behind his nightmare had better try a different, more cohesive method.

There was no way he'd allow himself to be defeated or give up… especially now… when the end was so close in his mind.

Leo's gaze hardened as he continued to gaze sternly at _'Raph'_.

Only he was left… he was the last one to take care of. Fear. anger, hatred and confusion began to manifest themselves into a vocal tone while aggravating frustration caused his hands to shake.

His mouth was void of moisture, and had been for as long as he could remember. The only thing giving him any sort of wetness was the blood which occasionally dripped past his lips.

His heart sped up.

And his patience snapped like a tightened coil.

"_**You are not real**_!" The leader screamed out as violently as his body would allow until his throat was hoarse and raw.

His breathing was growing irregular as the surge of confidence which induced the outburst began to subside into a soft tingling sensation.

'_Raph' _froze. His nostrils flared as he seemed to look over Leo from head to toe, observing him in silence.

Then he roared.

And then he ran.

Leo stood his ground with a grimace as he felt something wet fall from his eyes, and he wasn't sure whether it was blood or tears. Either wouldn't be a shock, but at the same time, it wouldn't do him any good.

He swung one of his swords around so the blade jutted out from behind, his stance widening as his pulse rose in speed.

It almost hurt to breathe.

It almost hurt to move.

Not even sure why the thought hit him, the leader decided to scream as well.

And time seemed to pause as 'Raph' dove for him, reality occuring in slow-motion.

The leader jumped up to meet the creature, arsenal prepared to do away with everything.

_I'm done with __**this**__. I'm done with you. I don't care what happens as long as you're gone.__** I**__ will make sure that you're __**gone**__._

There wasn't anything that would stand in his way.

Leo raised his swords high above his head.

And struck.

**Red**.

At once, blinding, colourless light seared through his vision at the impact, something smacking him square in the plastron and roughly knocking the wind from his lungs.

He swore he heard a crack emanate from his chest, just by his stomach, where the brunt of the pain pulsed and stung.

He remembered being sent spiraling to the floor moments before his memory cut the events short, like a broken record player.

Only he… wasn't dead?

It felt like hours passed before he was able to pry his eyelids open, or maybe it had even been days.

It couldn't have been minutes… it couldn't have been.

He didn't bother with checking the surroundings; he knew he was lying flat on his carapace, feeling more bruised than ever before. His face felt hot and wet, with a long, fresh cut streaked across his cheek.

He had gotten hurt… _right_?

It was evident after all, with the scar and the generous amounts of blood spilled across the ground.

He was in pain. He _had _to be.

But despite the prodding from his mind, Le felt rather… _numb_. Were the scarlet pools his? Maybe..

Or maybe he was already dead.

But the theory was proven false when he managed to push himself up into a sitting position. Although it took a few tries, and a few squeaks of pain escaped past his mouth, he managed.

Besides, he could cope with the mild soreness.

But what he could cope without were the events that had unfolded, moments before his brain completely disregarded the world. He couldn't call back what happened, no matter how hard he tried. Time had flown by like the Manhattan subway, a blur of occurrences, a mush of actions, a collage of frightening images and things he had shouted out… wait… he had _screamed_?

When? And _why_? And _what_?

He couldn't remember.

And that scared him.

All Leo knew for sure was his entire body had gotten severely battered.

As he stood up on wobbly feet, testing whether or not he'd be able to support his own weight, a hot blast of pain rocketed through his lower leg, leaving him grimacing and gasping for breath.

The initial shock wore off slowly… almost mockingly slow… and then the low, pulsing discomfort took its place. As Leo balanced himself, he began to believe, with almost one hundred percent certainty, that a bone within his left leg had most likely gotten dislocated or cracked.

It hurt like hell, was a pain to walk on (or rather, _hobble _on), and overall, gave him a horrible disadvantage. A trickle of thick blood ran down his forehead, almost into his eyes, but he wiped it away with the back of his hand and sighed heavily.

Jeez… he was exhausted.

He brought his wrist to eye level and almost experimentally flexed his fingers open and close… open and close; the tear of blood dripped from his finger and onto the floor as his eyes widened.

Something felt… _off _about his hand.

Something was… _missing_.

The realisation hit him just then; he was holding only _one _of his dual swords.

Only _one_.

_Where's… where's my other one?_

And suddenly, the memories came flooding back to him like a tsunami, encompassing him in a sensation of inescapable nausea.

The _fight_.

The _creature_s.

His _katana_.

After a few unsuccessful, panicked glances around himself, Leo eventually spotted the weapon a few yards away… and his heart sank at the sorry sight.

His precious, trusted sword, which had always managed to get him out of even the _worst _situations, was snapped in half.

It rested quietly in a small pool of crimson. Alone.

"Oh god…" Leo groaned, not even caring how weak he sounded. Gently, he rubbed at his forehead where a massive migraine was threatening to take form; but the attempt did not do much to allieviate the aching sensation. "M-my head… what… what _happened_?"

'_Daft toad. How clueless can you be?'_

He winced.

'_Nevermind that… more importantly… where's your brother?'_

Leo froze with a sudden jolt of panic.

_Raph._

He really _was _that foolish.

How did he not notice that _'Raph' _was _missing_?

"Raph…" He breathed out, suddenly feeling his anxiety return at the mention of his brother's name.

But before Leo was able to thoroughly scan the area, a wave of aching nausea washed through him, and with a hiss of discomfort, he gritted his teeth together to suppress the rising bile.

One of his hands rose up to his mouth and covered it tightly, but the sensation only seemed to worsen.

A groan slipped past his lips as he shut his eyes, waiting for his flopping stomach to settle. At the very least, his headache had begun to decrease in intensity.

'_Letting your guard down, eh? Pretty smart, fearless.' _

Leo's eyes snapped open at the remark; he let out a frustrated breath, about to retort with a stinging comeback when-

_Wait… what was I doing? What am I- _

_Raph. _

_The other demons._

Leo ignored the throbbing of his mind the best he could as he gingery turned in every direction leisurely, _cautiously_, trying to locate the aggressors.

The creatures he knew were still there… still _nearby. _He could feel the presence of… another being. _No… _

_Several_.

Someone was _there_, hiding quietly in the shadows… ready to _strike_.

It happened before… _repeatedly_. Why would _this _time be any different?

The leader took a confident step closer, closing in the shadows with his remaining sword gripped tightly in his bruised hand. Immediately, the faint sound of feet shuffling echoed through the empty abyss.

"Who are you?" Leo demanded, raising the katana upwards. "What do you want from me, you _parasites_?"

No reply.

_Cowardly beings._ He mentally spat, and his previous level-headedness _shattered_.

"You think you can _**get away**_ with _this_? Get away with _constantly __**torturing **_me like this? Do you think I _**want **__this_? Do you think I _**want **_to fight you? Do you think I _**want **_to be _stuck _here? I don't know _**what **_my dreams mean and I don't even know why I'm _**here**_!" He paused to take in a breath, hands shaking from the anger coursing through his body.

"But… I have learned _one thing_; if _you _keep coming back, then so will _I_. Even if it'll _**kill **_me."

There was a quiet sniffle.

"I will _**never **_stop fighting against _you_."

It was with this sentence that the darkness surrounding him suddenly seemed to soften, as though it were losing its ability to cloak the surreal land in shadows. An outline of trembling bodies began to steadily grow more and more clear, residing only a few feet in front of him.

But as much as Leo _wanted _to appreciate the change in visibility, his exasperated mind couldn't gather enough mental strength to even acknowledge it. Instead, he found himself focusing on gritting his teeth together to keep the anger from completely boiling over the edge.

All of his emotions slowly came together, manifesting into five, perfectly dark yet confidently spoken words:

"I absolutely _hate _all you."

And that was when a pair of eyes opened.

They rested much further towards the ground, as though whoever they belonged to was… _sitting_; they were deep and dark, silent and yet somehow expressing words beyond the capability of any language on the planet.

Leo subconsciously cocked his head.

Another pair opened shortly after the first, softly coloured yet harshly darting and scanning over the area. Paranoid and uncertain.

Finally, the last match came into view, contrasting the others; bewildered, yes… and yet… _livid_.

But the one thing these eyes had in common were their bloodshot appearance, some slightly closed at odd, unnatural angles. _Swollen_.

A complete set of those _freaks… _

But they were… _smaller… _more _human… _less _animalistic_.

Fatigued.

_Weaker_.

It was only as Leo narrowed his eyes quizzingly, unsure what to exactly do, did the darkness finally relinquish its hold on the world. What once had been cast in shadows grew lighter… the fog cleared away and the visibility was restored.

It took him only a moment to assess the situation:

_He had won. _

Leo could feel his mouth almost curving into an exhausted, weary smile.

_He had __**won**__._

Those creatures were no more… no more.

_Finished_.

He had won!

Leo breathed out his remaining energy with a growing, exhausted yet proud smile, slowly calming his frantically beating heart. Silently, he waited for his conciousness's response to his victory with a hint of vaingloriousness lifting his ego.

_Not so worthless now, am I?_ He smugly mused.

'_**Idiot**__.'_

The leader stiffened in surprise.

'_You call __**this **__a win?' _The sudden, heartless taunt caused Leo's confidence faltered, unsure how to respond. _'Oh, that's __**disgusting**__…__you have __**nothing **__to say for yourself?__I knew you were __**stupid**__… but to go __**this **__far? You really screwed __**this **__one up, didn't you?'_

The blue ninja froze at the words, confused.

"W-what are you talking about?" He whispered under his breath, anxiety flooding his system. "I don't… _understand… _I've done what you asked… I _beat _them… I _won… _what do you… what?"

The haunting words still partially echoed through his scattered brain as the arm holding his katana began to quake, keeping his gaze aimed beyond the sharp tip of the sword.

Toward the eyes as the creature became exposed…

Oh, how he'd been expecting to feel _fulfilled_.

To be satisfied that he'd won… not… _disgusted _with himself..

Not _sickened_.

The conscious bodies he looked down upon were _bloodied_, deep cuts and gashes carved into their flesh, leaving almost no patches of skin unharmed. Their eyes were wide, upset, exhausted and flooded with _agonizing _betrayal…

Leo didn't even hear his weapon crash to the ground.

Everything sounded fuzzy, his vision swirling.

His _brothers _were staring back at him.

His _brothers _were the ones hurt.

Raph had placed himself between his two younger siblings, both hands almost pushing them back in a protective manner. An alarmed expression darkened his face, displaying nothing but the raw lividness oozing from his aura as his narrowed, cold eyes fixed themselves onto Leo.

'_Just try and lay a finger on them,' _Raph's gaze seemed to threaten. _'Just try.'_

Mikey was shivering on the red ninja's right, his leg twisted at an awkward angle on the floor as he watched Leo with horrified, bloodshot eyes. He was wide awake, _distraught_. Nothing managed to sneak past his hyperactive gaze.

But on the left, however, was Donnie, slumped like a ragdoll against his older brother's shoulder. He barely even appeared conscious, with a long, deep cut stretched from just under his arm to the very tip of his wrist.

Leo's throat closed on itself as he stumbled forward, kneeling before them and trying to think of comforting words or _something _to gain their trust…

Trust _he _had _broken._

"What…? Guys... guys, please listen… "

But his movement had been far too fast for their liking, and he was forced to back away once Raph aggressively shifted forwards, teeth grinding against each other. It was clear he didn't want his older brother near him or the others.

And the leader could barely even comprehend the sight before him.

"What… no… _no… _I didn't... I _didn't _do that…!" He desperately tried to explain, making the mistake again of moving forwards. "That wasn't _you_! You weren't… _you _weren't those _things_!"

Raph growled threateningly at him. Mikey let out a quiet hiccup and choked back his voice. Only Donnie remained completely silent, his half-closed eyes glossy and distant.

But Leo's mind wasn't working properly anymore; he began to frantically shout at them.

"_I_ didn't do this! You _have _to _believe _me! T-that _wasn't… _I would never hurt _you_!"

Still, they all looked so _disappointed… betrayed…unapologetic_.

Hurt and afraid.

'_Because of you'._ Came a voice.

It tore at Leo's heart.

"I'm… I'm so s-sor-"

And then the floor was gone.

A gasp fell from Leo's mouth as his feet were suddenly swept out from under him, and his apology died on his tongue.

Then he hit the ground… _hard_.

Leo felt the wind knocked clear from his lungs as a heavy force jammed and twisted itself against his carapace, as though it were trying to bury into his shell. It _hurt_.

It hurt badly.

The leader glanced over his shoulder with great urgency, trying to make heads or tails of what exactly had ambushed him. But another thought stole his valuable attention:

'_Get your weapons, moron!_'

Leo located his sword with ease, and at once, made a sloppy attempt to retrieve it; but it was just too far away… _unreachable… _

The searing claws of _whatever _had trapped him dug violently into his carapace, forcing him to stay on the ground. He could _hear _faint cracks… _feel _the way the hard exterior began to slowly _split apart _where the talons were piercing.

It _hurt_.

He grabbed at nothing, his frantic eyes falling upon his family.

"Guys!" Leo shouted desperately. "Please! Get my sword! I can't… _help_! Please! I can't defend myself or you without my sword!"

The weight grew heavier, and he let out a hiss of pain.

But to his horror, his brother let their gazes remain just as stone cold and unfeeling as before.

Hard.

_Unsympathetic_.

"_Why_?" Raph spat. "So you can _slice _and _dice _us some more?"

Leo's heart was beating so fast… why didn't they _believe _him? It…. it had to be some sort of _sick joke_... right?

"N-no! I _wouldn't… _I'd _never _do that! _Please_! Get me my sword!" The nails dug even deeper into his shell, drawing a hiss of pain from the pinned leader. He could feel the warm blood beginning to well up in the cracks, where his flesh met the armor protecting his back.

It dripped down his side.

But none of them seemed to care.

Mikey sniffed. "B-but you already _did… _I thought you were _j-joking _at first… but you _a-actually _tried to _kill _us..."

Leo gritted his teeth together. "No! Those _things _weren't you! They were h-horrible _monsters_! They were trying to kill _me_, I… I _had _to _defend _myself! Please understand that!"

But the second oldest brother only snorted, clearly unimpressed with the leader's ramblings.

"Horrible monsters, huh? _That's _how you see us?"

Leo couldn't find the strength to breathe. "T-that's _not _what I-"

The large paw on his back pushed into him harder, causing his sentence to be cut short as he wheezed from the lack of air.

"Figures_ that someone like_ you would say that… so caught up in your own damn _ego _that you'd find others who aren't Splinter's _favourite _student as worthless."

_That's not true. I didn't say that. I don't think that. Why would even… why? _

"You're _twisting _my words!" Leo accused breathlessly, his patience wearing thin. _My __**real **__brothers wouldn't think this… right? They'd know better! _

There was a shift on Raph's left.

"You… you went after me first 'cause I'm the _weakest_, right?" Came the sudden, soft voice of Donnie; his voice was so quiet and raspy that the blue ninja almost missed the bitter, self-loathing comment.

"N-no…" Leo tried to reason.

"I'm the _worst _fighter, aren't I? You wanted to get _rid _of me, didn't you? You don't think I'm _good enough_ to fight…"

"That's not true!" The eldest shouted frantically, frustrated that his brothers were so… _distrusting _of him. "You won't give me a _chance _to defend myself! Why can't you _listen _to me for once?"

"_Listen_ to you?" Raph echoed in disbelief, his eyes stone cold. "_Listen_ to you? Leo, that's all we ever _do_! You bark out orders and we follow them like your perfect, little soldiers!"

All the words he had prepared to retort back died on the leader's tongue.

_This is all just a nightmare… this is just a nightmare… everything's fine back home. _

_This isn't real. _

The claws pierced into his shell even deeper, earning a yelp of pain from the trapped turtle.

"Maybe we don't _wanna _listen to you anymore. Maybe we don't _wanna _constantly be told what to do and how to act. Not _everyone _is _great _enough to be Splinter's _favourite_." Raph didn't stop until his lungs demanded air.

Leo stared back at him, shocked. "B-but… we're a _team_! We _needed _a _leader_! I-I'm just doing what's _best _for _us_!"

"And you wanted us _gone_?" Mikey assumed sadly.

"No! I'm telling you, those things weren't you guys! They were something completely different! Why can't you just- _ahhrg_!"

Leo felt his throat nearly rip as a scream erupted from his mouth, the heavy, unbearable weight from the paw feeling as though it had split apart a small chunk of his carapace.

_Something _solid tumbled down from his back, and warm blood soaked his shoulder.

"G-guys! _Please_!"

He desperately reached out towards them, tears springing to his eyes.

_Why don't they believe me? _

"_Please_! Get me my sword!"

But he received no reply.

His plea fell upon deaf, compassionless ears; the figures of his brothers watched him, _quietly_, with dull and unapologetic eyes.

_Why can't this just be over? What am I missing? What did I not do right?_

Leo shut his eyes as tightly as he could, balling his hands into fists as his teeth ground against each one another.

And it was only then he swore he had heard someone shouting his name.

A familiar voice.

His brain founded as he tried to recall. _F-father? Was that-_

But the thought was cut short… _painfully _short.

The others simply watched, with frighteningly calmness, as his entire body erupted in overwhelming agony.

And his shell was crushed.

* * *

End Chapter Seven


	10. Chapter 8

**((A.N. I didn't alter this chapter really in any way. I just ended it a bit earlier than before. The part I cut off is now the new start of the next chapter.))**

* * *

"_Leo... do…" _

_ … _

"_You must… wa… up…" _

Soft noises drifted through the air.

"_Pl… se… return… us…" _

Barely audible.

"_Can… y… hear… e…? _

Where they… _whispers_?

"_Leo… do! Y… mu… st… wake… up!" _

They… they _had _to be.

"_Please… try to… up…" _

Distant echoes encompassed him in a blanket of light, feathery sound, trying to get through to him somehow.

"_Leo…do!" _

But their efforts would all be in vain.

They slipped in one ear and worthlessly floated out the other.

Leo didn't-

No…

He _couldn't _respond.

Couldn't even muster enough energy to _flinch_. Not when his limbs felt like lead boulders, the voices filling his ears as though he were underwater… like he was _suffocating_.

_Numb _to the world.

Gone.

And a part of him encouraged this ignorance.

'_Isn't this nice?' _It would claim sweetly, dragging him deeper and deeper into the dark depths of unconsciousness. '_As long as you stay like __**this**__, the world is peaceful.' _

What… what even was the _point _of fighting?

It… it _was _true.

The world like _this __**was **_a tranquil place.

It was _quiet_. It was _static_.

An ideal land where he didn't have to stress over _failing _anyone, where he didn't have to worry about _losing _anyone. He could just hide here and never have to taste bitter, pungent _fear _ever again.

'_Your __**real **__world can't offer you this.' _The voice would remind. _'Just stay. Stay and rest. Sleep.' _

Leo didn't fight against it; he didn't even _want _to. Didn't have the _energy _to.

Everything _here _was… _absolutely _calm.

Collected. _Relaxed_.

Unlike his restless city. Unlike the chaotic lair.

_This _was a _perfect _world-

"_Can… hear… me…? L… rdo…!"_

If only those _sounds _were purged.

What _good _were they to him, anyway? Constantly putting up a fight whenever they were shoved to the back of his mind, never relenting or allowing him to… _rest_.

To _rest _and be _still_; they deliberately made what the voice had promised to him an impossibility.

He wouldn't sleep like _this_! These noises _demanded _attention, _craved _it. And worst of all, they seemed to be… _growing?_

Louder. _Stronger_.

More… _panicked?_

His mind floundered, desperately trying to preserve the silence it had built up, like a fortified cage around Leo's consciousness; it was _dead set _on keeping him locked in the dark.

But it couldn't reveal this.

'_Nothing is wrong.' _It soothed instead, a slight waver in his tone once it noticed that Leo was getting rather restless. '_Don't worry. You're alright. Nothing is wrong.'_

And still, he _trusted _it.

But perhaps loyalty wouldn't have even _mattered_; the whispers were _crescendoing_, drifting closer towards his peaceful, resting aura. Practically _swarming _him like a horde of starving mosquitoes, _drowning _him in a buzz of noise sound until-

"_Wake up!"_

Leo's spirit jolted.

His chest constricted.

_What was that?_

And that was all it took.

Despite this brain screaming, _begging _for him to ignore the sounds, he forced himself to awaken; the icy darkness of unconsciousness relinquished its grip.

His aura's forefinger twitched and eyes slowly blinked open, somberly greeted by a pitch black, devoid room. His mouth was _insanely _dry, like he had slept breathing in sand; all his limbs hummed in soreness.

But that could all be worried about later; rubbing at his eyes, he had hoped for a split second that what he was seeing was just a trick of the light. Maybe his vision was still adjusting.

Maybe he was blind.

The last possibility sent a shiver down his spine.

_That's a comforting thought. _He winced. _But that's not it. It __**can't **__be. I can __**see **__myself… just not what's __**around **__me. _

His gaze swept over the empty room, the answer almost on the tip of his tongue.

_I need to __**think**__. Why am I here? _He glanced over his shoulder, as though expecting to see something different further away; like his luck was _that _good. _Where am I? It feels… almost familiar, but I-_

And then he remembered, the awful realisation nearly knocking him off his own two feet; he stood frozen, mouth open yet at a loss for words. The air was evicted from his lungs.

_This _was his _new _consciousness.

Gritty, dark, devoid. _Lifeless_.

Leo balled his hands into fists, oddly motivated by this sudden change. _**New**__, huh? _

_New _did not mean _improved_.

Groggily, he pushed himself to his knees with a groan, sitting up to inspect the situation further. It wasn't like he expected to spot anything distinctly unrelated to the environment, but it _did _help him assess what the problem was.

But he had already figured _that _out from the moment he opened his eyes.

He really _was _still stuck in an empty room.

_Well, that's great. _He sarcastically muttered, swiveling his head to look around at the same scenery. _Back to square one. Might as well get up and do __**something**__._

He pushed himself to his feet, slightly unbalanced; he stuck his arms out for support, eyes darting to his fingertips and then into the inky blackness beyond.

It felt great to finally stretch his legs out.

But not everyone seemed to be on the same page: _'What are you __**doing**__?' _A voice suddenly demanded. _'Go back. Rest. You __**deserve **__it. Leave this place for something more… __**favourable**__.' _

Scoffing, Leo pushed those false encouragements aside.

_I __**don't **__think so. _

Like _hell _he'd sleep through _this_; he was a _ninja_, _trained _to face the unknown and unexpected! And he wasn't going to let a little, annoying voice in the back of his head tell him otherwise.

And he was glad he hadn't listened; the more he looked around, the more his curiosity grew.

And the more anxious he felt. Maybe _'glad' _was _too _strong of a word…

_This is… depressing. What __**happened **__here? _His aura then paused. _And… what is that… __**noise**__? Are those… __**voices**__? _

Leo searched around the monochromatic room, clearing his thoughts so he could focus on finding the source; and surprisingly, it came quicker than he expected.

He was shocked it had come at _all_; he could just _barely _make out broken words if he listened attentively. Catching just fragmented _pieces _of a larger whole, drifting in and out of reality.

_So… _Leo lightly bit his tongue. _Are they even __**saying **__anything or is this… _His eyes widened, breathing faltering. _… just another __**trick**__?_

The sudden jump between ideas sent a cold shudder down his spine; it _could _be true. No reason why not to believe that. This could all very well be just another _hallucination_… and he could be falling _right _for it.

Right into the _trap_.

But he couldn't _sense _any immediate, surrounding danger. He couldn't spot a looming figure in the far distance.

Like _that _was anything to off by; he'd been _wrong _about this sort of thing before… and it costed him, stealing away his strength and memory. He _knew _something was out there, maybe even _multiple _things… but he couldn't recall them.

And he was growing rather tired of this ignorance.

_Okay, Leo_… The turtle motivated._ Time to get some __**real **__answers._

He didn't exactly have a plan of how to do _that_, but he figured that sooner or later, he'd find _something_. Or _something _would find _him_.

He made a move to start walking, to start exploring, when a sudden blur of motion caught his attention; against his better judgment, he froze up.

Heart skipping a beat, he whipped around to face it… whatever it was!

His vision scanned the darker parts of the room, eyes peeled like a hawk's; nothing was getting away from him. He refused to let it escape.

And then, all at once, he spotted it: a _moving _entity. A being _sluggishly _making its way closer, like it was trying to _avoid _getting _caught_.

A possible _threat_.

His stomach lurched; he made an instinctual grab for his weapons to fend the _thing _off… but all he felt his hands close around was… _nothing_?

Shock ran through his aura, buzzing all the way to his toes as he craned his neck over to see what exactly was in his scabbard; not his _katanas_, that was for sure.

In fact, his swords were _gone_.

_Okay. Great, that's __**great**__. _He searched for them on the ground, his panic rising. But the effort was fruitless; sweat was collecting on his palms. _They're… __**gone**__. Uh, that's… okay? Forget that… remember what Master Splinter said. A ninja is __**never **__defenless. __**Anything **__can be a weapon._

His eyes darted down to his hands; his mouth was pulled into a thin line.

_Yeah, __**they'll **__do. _

Breathing heavily, Leo faced the nearing being, his body stiffly set in a defensive position. With gritted teeth and hands balled into tight fists, his brain raced to come up with a follow-up plan, knowing a few punches probably wouldn't do much damage to whatever could be lurking in the darkness.

_I __**really **__wish I had my swords right now! _He grieved internally, feeling the fear beginning to bubble up within his spirit.

He'd fought without his swords _numerous _times!

So why was it that he felt so… helpless _now_?

Swallowing back the growing concern, he let his cold, attentive gaze settle upon where the being was closing in, far away, yet close enough for him to make out the shape.

He bunched the muscles up his legs, ready to make a move.

The foggy details became clearer as it exited the darkest part of his consciousness.

Leo stared at it, not letting his gaze falter even for a moment.

It came closer.

He blinked slowly, heart still hammering under his plastron.

_It's not… it's not a monster? What…? _

He was silent for a good, solid half minute, words suddenly failing him. His defensive posture crumbled as he realized what the thing _floating _closer was, _visible_ to the naken eye. _Able to be seen _as it lazily made its way just over his head.

It didn't try to attack or stage any ambushes. _Nothing_; just minding its own business.

It seemed completely… _harmless_.

A _whisper_.

He watched, eyes widened in both awe and confusion as he got a better look at the thing; it appeared to consist of a vapor-like essance, glowing a colourless hue that didn't seem to exist in the eye's range.

The whole thing was probably _tangible_, as well.

Almost cocking his head like a dog as it drifted by, he then noticed that, on his left and right, more and more of these visible sounds were coming out from the darkness.

He stiffened for a moment, though the action was mostly insticitual, before an idea sparked by the advancing words popped into his brain.; he figured he had nothing to lose by _trying_.

Leo gave his hands a light shake, glancing up.

_**Tangible**__, huh? _

His aura made a grab at the oncoming whispers, reaching up as far as his arms would allow. He'd leap up to gain height, to try and get _even _closer, to try and use his remaining senses to get a grasp of whatever reality he was in.

Maybe they were the key to getting home.

But almost in a twist of bitter irony, he felt the fingertips of his spirit brush against their fog-like shell, curls of the smog breaking off and vanishing; they were oddly warm.

Like a breath.

Still, all the whispers were oblivious to his attempts, but coldly cemented his outcome each and every time: he had _missed_.

Leo's aura sucked in a breath, biting its inner cheeks in frustration. He had failed _once_, and that was to be expected.

_Alright, cool. Cool._ He gave a small bounce, like he was preparing himself. _Didn't get it, that's __**fine**__. Should've expected that. I can try again._

And he did exactly that, only this time _straining _to snag at the ones hanging around just over his head.

They seemed to be _taunting _him this time, as no matter _how _stealthily he approached them, no matter _how _slow he moved to try and prevent them from retreating, the whispers would always drift just out of his grasp.

And he was growing impatient.

_Desperate_.

This time, when his feet hit the ground, he growled. _This is __**impossible**__! Is there a __**pattern **__to this or…? Am I doing something __**wrong**__? _

Quizzingly, he extended out his arm; the words all scattered.

Like they were _avoiding _him.

Leo drew back, surprised at the reaction; he _wanted _to get closer. He _wanted _to find out what they were all about.

These broken sentences had peaked his interest, leaving him irritated, puzzled…and unnaturally _anxious._

But it only aided to _fuel _his _desperation _to reach them. If he could only… _pull _his senses together… if he could only bring himself _focus_.

_I need to concentrate. _He told himself. _This isn't over yet. I'm still… not __**home**__. I need to move… I need to __**physically **__move… and there's only one way to do that. _

He sucked in a breath. _First things first_. He decided. _I need to get up. _

There was no point in aimlessly grabbing at the sky with his aura… especially since he couldn't even snag those damned things.

They would just have to wait.

But another problem was still afoot: he didn't even know _where _his physical form was. He needed _some _knowledge of his situation, his _location_, and even a _sliver _would prove more useful than just sitting around and waiting for something to happen.

And the only way to do _that _was by waking up… waking his _body _up.

His aura went slack, eyes closed as he was drawn back within his physical form… _wherever _it was.

He let out a slow, even breath and relaxed. _Okay… how do I even… __**wake **__up? Wait.. am I on my __**back**__? Is that why… why…?_

He could just ever so _slightly _feel a weight on his carapace… something cold and solid… the _ground_?

But each and every attempt at trying to discover his location left him confused; every _angle _felt the same. Every _direction _felt like up, down and sideways, all at the same time.

A small bud of panic bloomed in his chest, his thoughts rushing to horrible conclusions.

_This… this is nuts! I… I'm not… __**dead**__? Am I? _

Cold fear gripped at the edges of his spirit, dread beginning to take ahold of his actions. His concentration was slipping, brain _floundering _with its options. He _willed _his body to move, to twitch or do _something _to reassure that he wasn't… that he wasn't…

_No! __**Calm **__down! Calm down. I won't get anywhere __**freaking **__out like this… just… __**relax **__and… _

And so he drew in a shaky breath, urging his hammering heart to settle.

_Just like meditation. _He told himself, blocking out the unpleasant notions swirling through his brain. _That's what __**got **__me here, so maybe that's what'll __**get **__me out… I hope._

Leo's attention closed in on his breathing, forcing himself to believe he was back in the dojo rather than the unknown.

To believe that if he called out for help, someone would come.

He gently exhaled, allowing his mind to completely relax, letting go of all insignificant thoughts. He inhaled softly through his nose.

No limb responded to what he mentally _begged _it to do.

He exhaled out his mouth.

Still nothing.

A breath in.

Then out.

And repeat.

And repeat.

_Repeat_.

Seconds dragged out into minutes. And those few minutes into a five. _Ten_.

By then, Leo's patience was being overrun by anxiety, the _fear _of being left in his consciousness, possible forever, outweighed his rational thinking.

He teetered on the verge of giving up and switching to Plan B (whatever _that _could be), when something seemed to flutter within the core of his being.

Leo's eyes flickered open, _physically _opened, as the sensation sparked to life like a switch had been flipped. His breath was caught in his throat.

It was… almost _painful_. Like an impossible itch, _underneath _his flesh. It took him a good moment to recognize what he was feeling: _'pins and needles',_ pricking almost teasingly at his skin.

A breath of momentary relief took away his words, washing away the alarm; never in his life did he think he'd welcome the sickening sensation of feeling trickling back into his limbs.

But right now, he could have cried; it meant that, slowly but _surely_, his body was coming back online.

For a few seconds he felt numb, as expected.

Then, his clear vision adjusted; he smiled a bit.

_Not bad, _He congratulated. _It's… __**actually **__working. _

Once everything felt as close to normal as he remembered, he carefully flexed the muscles in his arms, pulling his fingers into fists a few times. Then he checked his legs, curling his toes and bending his knees.

To his astonishment, nothing hurt. He was a bit sore, _sure_, but _that _could easily be blamed on lying in the same position for far too long.

He confirmed nothing was seriously damaged after about a minute of self checks; he pushed himself up into a sitting position for the second time, only this time going much more slowly, like he was _'testing the waters_'.

And all went well; he even weakly grinned at his progress…

Until vertigo _slammed _into him.

With a hiss, Leo gritted his teeth, fighting back the dizzying spell that came with moving his still-adjusting body far too fast.

_But I went slow! _He argued to no one in particular, forced to ride out the nauseating roller coaster as his vision settled. It felt like hours before the black and white dots dominating his sight finally vanished, and he hesitantly continued on.

Leo glanced around at his surroundings, rubbing at his eyes in case they were still blurry. He was trying to… what was he looking for exactly?

Those _sounds_?

But…

He paused, glancing around; eyes and ears were open.

Those _sounds _were _gone_.

Everything around him was _dark_, no object to use to his advantage in sight. In fact, no object in sight, _period_. This place seemed so… _familiar_. Like he had already gone through all this.

He knew it was his consciousness, but even with that knowledge, he was still _trapped _somewhere.

In a cage? No… no bars. Not even any walls to contain him; this was too empty to be a room of any sort. This was more like… _terrain_.

_Alien _terrain.

An unknown land he had no knowledge of… expect for-

'_Your brothers'. _A voice hissed. '_They might still be here'._

Confusion swamped him.

_Why would they be here? _He wondered. _What's here for - _

_Teeth _snapped wildly at him.

Leo drew back in surprise; the feeling of deja vu was overwhelming.

_A memory_?

Angry, vicious _claws _tore at his face. Flashes of familiar colours disoriented his mind.

_Wait… _Leo paused, the recollection of events seemingly refusing to click. He was so close… so _close… _it was just on the tip of his tongue… er, _brain_.

_'Give yourself a minute,' _Came a voice. _'You got whacked in the head pretty hard.'_

Leo knew better than to argue, but he would _not _take this blanking as an answer.

_C'mon, __**think**__! What __**happened**__? Something about… my… __**brothers**__! Yes! I was- no, __**they **__were… they were all… __**angry**__? I was… what was I… _

The whispers had come back, but he wasn't able to spot them anymore; he could hear them… hear them advancing. Still, he ignored them, his bank of memories threatening to overflow, coaxing all of his attention towards it instead of his surroundings.

And then the realisation hit him, harder than any of Shredder's punches.

His _brothers_ were… _**gone**_.

Those _monsters_… weren't.

Leo nearly choked.

_This _place he was trapped in _wasn't _safe. It wasn't _home_.

It didn't even _feel _like his aura anymore.

His stomach twisted in alarm, the fear triggering a rush of bitter adrenaline. His heart began to pound, spacial awareness managing to pick up on a faint, gut feeling that made his green flesh turn ashen:

He _wasn't _alone.

He never _had _been.

Anticipation weighed down his spirit, clouding his judgement, the blood roaring in his ears.

His eyes darted in every direction imaginable; he felt something… the _presence of something. _

_What is it? _He frantically wondered. With his nerves on fire he couldn't seem to focus on _anything_. It wasn't the whispers… it wasn't them anymore.

Whatever was out there… was _bigger_.

Smog swallowed up his mind; it was dizzying, _nauseating_, _headache _inducing. All his current strength suddenly flocked towards making sure he wouldn't throw up or faint.

Dammit… why couldn't he just have some _silence_? He just wanted to _think_.

Instead, he was plagued by those soft chants, their echoes still ringing clearly in his ears… and they wouldn't _subside_.

He had ignored them _before_, but now…

They were so loud… no… _it _was so loud.

There was _one _voice that refused to leave, its messages bouncing off invisible walls.

And it was inching closer, ghostly, stiff fingers reaching out towards him while waving away the other sounds. The 'hand-like' spirit brushed the fog, almost like beckoning it to follow with welcoming curls of smoke-like vapor.

And Leo watched, puzzled but on guard, as the whispers cleared away a path of the thick haze.

The dust was brushed away, similarly to how it was blown off covers of old, yellowed books to reveal what truly lay underneath.

_Uncovering _what had been hidden.

Uncovering _him _from that nightmare.

The murkiness was lifted from his mind, and his senses reawakened even stronger than before.

It felt… _exposing_.

Leonardo shivered; all of a sudden, he thought for _sure _his aura had to be disconnected from the rest of his body. Perhaps his lightheadedness was due to his headache, from when he had been pulled to the ground hard by-

_No… it's over. __**Stop **__thinking about that. Focus on something else… like… like…_

Like how he was… _trapped_.

_ No. Don't think about __**that **__either… _

His body felt unusually chilly… more than normal for a cold-blooded reptile.

_I didn't… __**die… **__did I? _He worried once again. _Then… how would I be __**thinking **__all this? I'm just… tired. I'm… really back at the dojo… everyone is okay. It's fine. I'm __**fine**__. _

A sharp stab flooded suddenly his system; he bit back a hiss.

It hurt to _think_. His brain felt like it was on _fire_.

If he thought it was difficult to concentrate _before_, then this new aching discomfort was a whole new league.

Every thought _throbbed_.

_How long… _He winced. _How long have I been… ouch… out __**cold**__? _

_And where are my __**brothers**__? _

The sensation of being watched grew unbearable.

_Stalked_.

By something… _inhuman_.

And it was trying to _contact _him… through those broken messages:

"_Wa… ke… must… wa…"_

Leo paused; this… unnatural _presence _he was feeling was… a _voice_.

Speaking to him.

Oddly familiar yet unrecognizable.

_Someone's trying to get to me._

The turtle lifted up his chin, allowing his hearing to make the observations rather than his eyes.

The voice seemed to be soaking into the air, not exactly fading away to nothing, but instead sticking to the atmosphere.

It was… calming to listen to.

He swore he had heard this voice somewhere before… several times, in fact. It had rescued him _before_, and right now, it seemed on the edge of bursting through the walls of his aura and dragging him back into reality.

But his spirit did not seem as impressed.

Instead, he heard it's demands for him to ignore the voice.

'_Something could be out there. Something __**dangerous**__.' _A skeptic in his mind offered. _'Why not just __**forget **__all about it, hmm? Forget __**all **__about that place. And just rest. Just close your eyes and rest for a little. You __**deserve **__it, anyway. After __**everything **__you've been through.'_

Leo rolled his eyes, taking a step towards the soft commotion.

_I've had about __**enough **__of you. _He shot right back without sparing a moment. _How can I even __**trust **__you? One second you're telling me to do something, and in the same breath insulting me for it!_

'_Hey, __**you're **__the leader. _Came the reply. _I'm just __**your **__consciousness.'_

Leo froze.

'_Seriously? Do you think it's __**easy **__coming up with all these strategies? To create a fully functioning plan in two seconds? It's up to __**you **__to weed through the bad ideas and find the good, to pick the __**plausible**__, not the most __**heroic**__. And sometimes, the best choice for your family can turn out to have the __**worst **__outcome.'_

Leo's words, already prepared to deflect the oncoming insult he had grown accustomed to hearing, died in his throat.

_I've been… __**arguing **__with myself?_

'_Glad you __**finally **__caught on. Took you long enough.' _

The words stuck to him.

The leader closed his eyes with an exhausted groan, bringing him hands up to cover his face. His vision began to slowly morph into a kaleidoscope of sickening luminescent flashes due to how roughly he was rubbing his eyes.

_Where am I? What can I __**do**__? How do I get back? I __**don't **__know. I __**don't **__know. I can't… do this anymore. _

He could hear something, something skittering, but was unsure whether it was just those whispers or an _actual _threat; the latter half made him cringe. Leo knew he wouldn't stand a _chance _against another demon if it happened to pounce on him… especially if it was anything like the ones he had faced before…

_Before… _

Just like those… _things_. Taking the form of his-

Leo could feel its presence; the entity was near him, closing in.

And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

_No._

_There is… something I can do. I need to __**wake **__up… I need to… __**wake **__up!_

"_**Leonardo**__!"_

The voice was practically _shouting _in his ear.

Then, without warning, something roughly snatched his shoulder.

A gasp tore from his throat as his eyes snapped wide open in a panic.

They stared ahead sightlessly; blind to reality.

Deep breathes racked his body as he struggled to calm himself down, a few beads of sweat rolling down the side of his face as he waited for his eyesight to clear. Bright, almost artificial-looking colours floated around him and seeped into his vision, violently contrasting the darkness from before.

He figured he'd evaluate his situation once he was able to see properly.

So he waited.

And waited.

It… wasn't clearing up. Nothing was adjusting correctly or fast enough, his eyes only picking up on smudges of colour.

Panic overran his mind once more; was this from _reality_? Was it still a _dream_?

Leo couldn't tell even if his life depended on it… and this scared him.

It probably _did_.

His senses were still partially out of commission; his eyes were down and out, but his hearing had also taken a blow. The world had turned into a muffled mess of tints and bleary shades.

Leo knew his aura inside and out; he had never seen a colour there than cream and blue… or _black_.

And all the _blood… _all the blood.

_Everything _he had done… and what he had done to his unsuspecting _brothers- _

"_Leonardo! You __**must **__return to us!"_

A dark, brown and crimson figure crouched in front of him, and the weight on his shoulder began to lightly shake, as though trying to wake him up…

But all he could focus on were the horrified faces his younger siblings gave him as he tried to explain; their _fear _and _betrayal_.

Their _distrust… _in the person who was supposed to lead them to _safety_..

His heart pounded away in his chest; he thought for sure it would explode if-

"_Leonardo_!"

The blue turtle jolted free of his daze with a violent shiver, the bewilderment of hearing his voice shouted so desperately momentarily disorienting his mind.

In that same instant, his vision sparked to life, thrusting him straight into a clear version of what he vaguely recalled as reality.

He squinted, gaze shakily falling upon… the figure crouched before him?

Dark browns and reds.

A familiar scent.

_Yes… _

It was his _father_.

The being kneeling a few inches away from him, a look of terrible concern etched onto his face, was his father.

Leo rubbed at his eyes, dazed; he groaned.

"Are you alright?" The old rat questioned, slowing down his speech to ensure his son wouldn't mishear the words.

"Huh…?" It took Leo a good, long minute to conjure up the ability to reply, despite understanding his father right away.

He just felt so _shaken _up, bruised and hurt… but at the same time, just _fine. _Physically, at least. All those _cuts _and _gashes _had vanished into thin air, like they had never marked his flesh in the first place.

_It was all just in my mind… I'm fine. _

It was among the strangest sensation he had ever felt.

His father looked down at him, awaiting a reply; he was worried.

Leo jolted.

"Y-yeah- I mean, _yes_. I'm okay." The turtle informed hoarsely, not sure whether what he said was a total lie or not; his head was still spinning.

In an attempt to appear orderly, he ironed out his slouch by sitting up in a more 'formal' meditative position.

He quickly gazed up at the rat, who simply sighed out his concern and shook his head. "I noticed you were growing rather _restless _during meditation… and despite this, I did not attempt to retrieve you."

Unease flooded the blue ninja's system.

'_You're supposed to be a __**leader**__!'_ Something shouted at him. _'You're supposed to __**know **__what you're doing! And now look! Look how __**upset **__your father is! Because of __**you**__!' _

He buried away the harsh mental words.

"Well, sensei, I'm, uh…. I'm alright _now_! " He responded, far too enthusiastically to seem genuine. The awkward smile he presented made his attempt at nullifying his father's fear all the more pointless.

Splinter looked unimpressed. _Disbelieving_.

"No, _really_, father! I'm okay. Just… a little… _shaken _up." Leo's smile faltered into a wince. "And, you told us to never disturb someone if they're meditating…?"

It was impossible to tell whether the rat was buying into his pathetic ramblings; it made the turtle all the more uncomfortable.

But when his teacher sighed, seemingly _noticing _his son's odd jump between emotions, though not _acting _upon it, it caused his stomach to flop.

"Yes, I did say that." His master agreed. "Although I feel _yours _may have been a special case in which I _should _have intervened."

An icy shiver ran up Leo's spine at the words, all previous thoughts colliding into a heap of nothing.

"W-what… _happened_?" He asked, voice giving off a slight, uncontrollable waver; his entire being was craving the answer.

But Master Splinter remained silent for a few seconds.

"You were _not _calm." He eventually explained, taking a long look at his son's restless, sitting figure. "You were _not _focused and it was clear you were afraid of… _something_. I feel as though I made a mistake by asking you to enter your aura…especially after what you told me…"

Leo's mouth was dry; he could almost _feel _the events from earlier trying to gush back to the forefront of his mind.

"I mean…" The leader admitted slowly, shifting uncomfortably on the carpeting. "I won't lie, sensei, it was… a _much _different… _experience… _than what I thought it would be. O-or what I'm used to." He added on the last part hastily.

There was no denying the facts anymore; those dreams _had _been getting worse, but they had never reached _anything _of this magnitude. Watching his very own brothers practically _die _in front of him… _because _of him? Screw all the stupid mind games Shredder and the Kraang enjoyed playing on him, no amount of lucid dreaming or brainwashing could hold a candle to what he had seen.

_There __**has **__to be more to this… this __**can't **__just be a bad dream or something. This is something serious. _His thinking managed to slip past his mouth.

"Sensei, I think… I think something bad is coming."

Splinter looked away thoughtfully, hands behind his back. He gazed towards the shrine of his family, and for a moment, he said nothing.

Then he nodded.

"I… I can see the truth behind your prediction, my son." He finally spoke. " Ever since the Shredder left the city, the streets have felt… far too tense. It is strange to think when the source of such hatred is gone… it would still haunt us."

Finally, he turned towards his student. "We must remain cautious. However, until the peace is shattered, you and your brothers will continue with your regular patrols. Do not interact with anything out of the ordinary unless it is necessary."

His gaze moved toward the blooming tree behind them. "I do not wish to alarm the others with this news, especially if it turns out to be fake."

Leo sat up a bit straighter. "I see your point, father, and I agree. I think-"

"**Leo**!"

The turtle jolted at the sound of his name, head whipping over his shoulder to spot who had called for him; his father had shifted as well.

And already standing at the entrance to the dojo, one foot slightly in the room, was Donatello, T-Phone in hand.

Without even pausing to excuse his sudden intrusion, he pointed to the screen of the gadget intently. "Leo, I just got a text from Casey."

Oddly enough, he sounded _distressed_.

Leo let out a long breath. _At least now I can focus on the __**real world**__ and __**its **__issues. _

But the thought didn't stop him from staring at the other turtle, confused. He wasn't sure what was up with his brother and caring so much about the Casey… _the _Casey Jones. The human boy he constantly argued with over the littlest of things.

A part of him was prepared to hear the lame explanation, believing it would involve April in some way.

But, there was something in his voice that wouldn't let him believe that.

Donnie seemed… _genuinely _worried.

If he were simply acting, then he was doing a pretty damn good job at making Leo's stomach flip in concern.

The leader eyed him curiously.

"So…?" He encouraged the other turtle to continue with a small hand gesture.

"So," Donnie answered his question by turning the phone around so that it fully faced his brother; texts lined one side of the screen.

But something else had caught Leo's eye, drawing his attention away from he words; it was something located in the bottom right corner.

A small, blue blinking icon… just like _his_. _Captain Ryan._

Leo's suspicion rose. "Isn't that _my _phone?"

Donnie hesitated, thrown off guard by his brother's question; he seemed to find it rather unexpected. His eyes darted to the phone in hand then back onto Leo, posture relaxing.

"Uh… _yeah_?" He blatantly replied, like his leader should have already known. "You made the rule _yourself_; no phones in the dojo. I snagged it just before you left. But you're _missing _the _point_!"

He threw both his arms down by his side, and the phone went with it. Leo stared at him, nonplussed. _When did he…? _

"I checked out what Casey had said but… but all he sent me was _'SOS'_! I-I've tried to get back at him for the past te- ten _minutes _now… but he's _not _answering."

Donnie was stuttering, returning back to a panicked mindset. "Mikey's still trying to get a hold of _Raph… _but so far, he's still got _nothing_. Big _meathead…_"

He began to grumble other insults under his breath about the red masked turtle, luckily out of earshot from their father.

Leonardo, on the other hand, noticed, though decided to not make a big deal out of such childish drivel. He stood up, already eagerly eyeing the rack where he had relinquished his swords for the time being.

And almost as importantly, he wanted his phone back.

"Well, you tracked Raph's coordinates, right?" He tried to reason, thinking of something that could calm his brother's nerves.

It wouldn't be that much of a surprise to find out the genius was hopped up on his fifth cup of coffee for the evening. Caffeine offered energy and rushes of adrenaline, _obviously… _which made Donnie prone to overemotional outbursts.

Leo knew he had to tread carefully.

"Yes, I _did_!" Donnie replied to his question, his voice sounding more like a whine of impatience.

"Alright," The leader spoke calmly, hoping his tone would be enough to relax his brother; he risked a glance up at his father, wondering _if _and _when _his master was going to get involved.

_He's evaluating his options. _Leo concluded. _He wants to see if I can handle this on my own… especially since I just flubbed up meditation… _

"Let's just… _think _through this, right? You have Raph's coordinance." The blue ninja grimaced at how patronizing he sounded. _Okay, tone it down. _

"So, he can't be _anywhere _we won't know to look. That's…" Something important popped into his mind. "Wait. _Wait_, hold on. I thought… isn't Raph with…"

But the words died on his tongue as the realization sunk in; his brother was staring at him, his expression almost challenging him to finish the sentence.

Leo sighed. "He's… he's with… _Casey_."

"_Obviously_! But neither of them are _answering_!" Donnie was pacing back and forth by this point. "I mean, _sure_, they might be out doing _something _and don't have time to call, but a text message takes, like, _two _seconds! Just a quick _'hi' _to show they aren't _hogtied _in someone's _trunk_!"

The leader eyes widened, noticing how fast the purple ninja had jumped to conclusions.

_Yup, _His mind assumed. _Definitely the doing of caffeine. _

"Okay, okay," Leo repeated, gesturing with his hands for his brother to slow down. "So, Raph isn't picking up his phone. To be fair… it's probably… _my _fault. He did seem… _really _ticked off when we last-"

He received a glare and hastily moved on. "But we have his coordinates."

"Yes, but… okay so, the problem is, _Raph's _phone leads to _Casey's _apartment… b-but I tracked _Casey _down to about, heck, _fifteen _or more blocks away!" Donnie's voice pitched itself slightly higher, a clear sign he was growing more frantic by the second. "So they're probably _separated!_ And _neither _of them are answering their _freaking _phones! This is _exactly _why I _made _them and those two can't even _respect _that!"

Leo swallowed back a stab of uncertainty; the events from earlier returned with a twist of his stomach, and he forced back the rising urge to choke.

A hand was pressed to his shoulder.

He zoned back into the moment.

"With the streets this tense, I fear _anything _will be capable of setting off a chain reaction. The Shredder knows we are still in the city… and his hentchmen know where you all tend to go. And… they know our _allies_." The rat's tone was firm yet full of worry, and the sinister words sent shivers down Leo's spine.

"Raphael should know better than to ignore urgent messages, especially after he ran off without informing you of where he went. I had hoped he would have grown out of such irrational outbursts by now… "

Leo nodded sternly, but it was Donnie who beat him to a reply.

"Hai, sensei. I'm guessing this might either be a really elaborate prank those two _boneheads _concocted, which is a _totally _fair assumption… or there's _actual _trouble." He concluded, sounding quite certain.

Leo, meanwhile, pushed himself to his feet.

"I agree. And while I'm not so sure about _Casey_, I know _Raph _isn't stupid enough to just blow us off like this. He gets angry, but… I don't think he'd _deliberately _ignore us." He paused and winced at the words. "_Hopefully_."

"Leonardo,"

His father summoned; Leo looked up at the old rat.

"Though I would rather have you rest after what you endured, I am certain you'd rather find your brother. And this situation seems dire if the two are, in fact, separated."

The leader balled his hands into fists. "There's something _wrong_, sensei… it could all be tied into my nightmares."

His father sighed and averted his gaze toward the ground. "I respectfully hope you are wrong, Leonardo. We have too much on our hands as it is."

Leo hesitated.

"But things may become worse." Splinter went on sternly. "Go. Find your brother. I will remain here in case he returns."

Relieved, Leo nodded and respectfully bowed, ready to grab his swords from the rack.

"Wait," His father suddenly called after him, extending out a hand; Leo turned to look over his shoulder.

"The moment you return, you are excused from evening training." The teacher ordered. "You will rest your mind and body. That is not a _suggestion_."

Leo nodded curtly, a thin, determined smile lit up his face. He gave a final bow of respect, acknowledging the words of advice from his father, before quickly retrieving his twin swords and darting out from the dojo alongside his younger brother.

The moment he stepped out from the room, though, his fears exploded.

_Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh… what if something's already happened to them? What if they're hurt or… or worse? _

They were only a few feet from the pit when Mikey appeared, calmly exiting the kitchen with a soda in one hand and his phone in the other.

"Nothin' yet, dudes!" He informed, waving the device before his face; he didn't appear very concerned about their brother's disappearance.

He took a long sip of his drink. "That big baby's not answering. And I tried Casey's phone, too."

Leo sighed, allowing his aggravation to surface. "I _swear_, if Raph's only doing this because he's still mad over earlier…" _I swear, if something happened to him… I'll never forgive myself! _

Donnie shrugged. "He's quit the team like, _seventeen _times, Leo. It's probably not your fault… _entirely_."

_But every time it's because __**we **__fight… it's __**my **__fault. _

The leader softly growled, walking past his two brothers. "For shell's sake, we're not _fifteen _anymore! He _can't _keep doing stuff like this and expect to get away with it! And Mikey, throw that away," He gestured to the soft drink. "We're heading out."

Surprised at the stern order, Mikey whined and stared down sadly at the half-empty can. "But I just got this…"

"Doesn't matter. _Raph's _got a problem… and _we _have to fix it." _Raph could be trapped somewhere… and Casey! They both could be… oh, __**no… **__Shredder knows where we hang out and… __**this **__is a problem. This could be a really __**bad **__problem. _

Donnie and Mikey glanced at each other, slightly taken aback.

"You… feelin' alright?" The taller turtle asked in a soft voice; the coffee must have worn off finally.

"Yeah, you're actin' pretty _snappy _today." Mikey noted. "Is Raph _really _getting to you that bad?"

_You have no idea._

"No!" Leo retorted defensively, knowing the quick and bitter reply did not paint him in the best light.

If anything, it just proved the others _right_.

"I… look, some _stuff _happened earlier. It's nothing _major_, it just…" He looked at his brothers, his trusting, unhurt, breathing, _alive _brothers. A sharp stab in the pit of his gut momentarily took away his words. "It caught me _way _off guard and it's still kind of… getting to me. I'll get it all under control. It's _fine_. Besides, Raph is our _priority _now, so…"

The B-Team glanced at each other, noticing their leader's quick change of topic.

They looked… wary.

_Suspicious_.

Leo exhaled away his worries; he was overthinking things. He was reading too deep into their emotions.

_They're not gonna turn their back on me. _

"Okay, enough of that." Leo pushed aside his fears, relieved to focus on something else… something like-

He eyed his youngest brother, frowning when he took another sip of his soda.

"_Mikey…_"

"Alright, _alright_! Jeez, keep your _shell _on, man!" The now-empty can was set down.

Leo nodded at the obeyed action. "Get geared up; _no _messing around. We'll meet back here in five minutes."

_I hope we're not too late._

* * *

The distant, overhead stars seemed to twinkle a bit _darker _than before; they had lost their glow, their radiance… their _light_. The _moon _was no exception, either, never offered a special pass to spare it from the oncoming gloom that slowly spread throughout the city.

Long shadows melted into the darkness, and the air grew thick as the wind died down to nothing. Everything smelled like… _rain_.

Humidity.

No doubt that water-heavy cloud was sluggishly passing by. Thunder rumbled softly off in the distance.

However, this promise of a summer thunderstorm was not the _issue_; more like an inconvenience. They had fought in downpours countless times before. Heck, even light _snow_, the small, white speckles of ice leaving them all with an unbreakable chill in the end.

No, the _problem _did not lie with the weather.

The issue now was much more… _organic._

Eyes narrowed into thin slits, Raphael held a breath, hands hovering in suspense over his dual weapons. Feeling brave, he carefully peeked over the lip of the dumpster to evaluate their unfortunate situation.

He almost had the urge to laugh:

_Like I actually hafta try and __**find **__the problem. _He contemptuously sneered.

Then, as if on cue, he heard it: a low, animalistic growl hummed through the dark, midnight atmosphere, the sound bouncing off the enclosed street. Four separate pairs for footsteps were falling heavily along the littered ground of the old alleyway; something crunched sickeningly as it advanced.

And the thunder was getting louder.

For only a moment, Raph's head involuntarily jerked upwards, a shiver racing down his spine as he caught sight of the dark, puffy thunderhead.

_Shit, _he vexxed. _Hope this storm holds off for at least another half hour. It's never fun to fight in the rain… just kinda depressing. Like-_

A _snarl_ filled the humid air.

The turtle gasped, head snapping downwards in shock as his off topic musing was derailed.

He didn't even wait to see if the _thing _had noticed him, nor _wanted _to know; Raph practically _threw _himself back into the garbage, teeth gritted together as his heart jackhammered under his plastron. It took all his strength to avoid swearing again.

_What am I __**doin'**__? Of __**course **__it's still out there. Our luck is __**never **__that good! _

Hesitantly, he snuck a look over at Casey; who merely shot him a pain filled smile and an encouraging '_thumbs up_'.

Not that he actually _meant _it, though. Neither of them believed for a _second _everything would be under control anytime _soon_. At least, not until the _others _showed up.

_Great. Just what I need: to be saved by __**Splinter Junior**__. They'll __**never **__let me hear the end of it… especially Leo. He'll probably ban me from leaving the lair without someone taggin' alongside like I ain't able to be out on my own._

_Unless… _

Raph replied by placing a forefinger over his mouth.

_I take that thing out __**myself**__. _

Both parties could hear it skittering about, sniffing obnoxiously loud at the air.

But what they _hadn't _realized just yet was how _strong _its nose was, easily distinguishing the already-dead carrion of animals before and that… that _other _scent.

_Their _scent.

_They _couldn't drown out their smell by the garbage… hiding was never _that _easy.

The creature drooled; despite not being a picky eater, the promising scent of living, _breathing _organisms was _too _enticing to pass up. It knew _exactly _what it was after; it had seen the _source _before, and the source had seen _it… _

_Nothing _was going to get in its way; it _was _going to find _food_.

With another quick taste of the static air, it found the delicious scent trail.

Like a trail to the _food_.

A deep, throaty growl of satisfaction ebbed in its throat.

It moved closer, slowly stepping over trash and broken glass like it wasn't even there; its hunger overpowered any rational thought, completely running on autopilot and a sharp pain within its gut.

The dumpster looked so… _appetizing_. But the contents buried _inside _would be even better.

Its mouth watered like a hideous faucet, dripping to the ground in long, thick strands.

It closed in… and the two vigilantes desperately trying to keep themselves unnoticed began to resort to plan B… whatever _that _was.

_How the __**hell **__does Fearless come up with ideas so fast? This is __**impossible**__!_

Raph dug frantically around through the garbage, trying to find something… _anything _at all that would prove useful; he had taken to multitasking, trying to find something to get Casey's leg wrapped up… _pronto_.

All while making sure the creature wouldn't ambush them.

No pressure… right?

_Nothing… __**nothing**__! _The words chanted over and over in his head like a broken record player as he scrambled through the trash. _Noth- gross! What the __**hell **__is this? Ugh, __**nevermind… **__nothing, nothing…_

But the longer he searched, the closer he knew the monster was getting; and besides, there was _no way_ he'd find an unopened box of gauze. And, to reiterate, their luck was _never _that good.

_And humans aren't stupid enough to throw away entire unopened boxes… usually. _

"Screw it," He finally muttered under his breath. Out of sanitary options, Raph settled on donating his _own _bandages.

Without a second thought, he stripped the pale bindings from his leg; the cloth was slightly damp from sweat, but at that moment, he was relieved to have had _something _to stop the bleeding.

Casey was losing blood faster than the two had anticipated.

So, as gingerly as he could, Raph pulled up the deep crimson stained pant leg to the knee…

… and was abruptly _smacked _in the face..

"_Ow_!" The turtle hissed, recoiling in surprise. "What the _hell_, man? I'm tryin' to _help_!"

Casey looked almost as shocked as Raph, staring up at him with wide eyes. "S-sorry." He sounded genuine. "You just… you could have at least warned me, dude! That _hurt_!"

Raph huffed. "Well, you _hafta _let me-"

A groan.

The two vigilantes froze like statues; they stared at one another.

_There's no way I can… I __**can't **__multitask like this! _The more the turtle looked at Casey, the more he checked in on his _bloodied _leg… and the bitter stabs of guilt grew unbearable.

Raph looked away; there was _no _way around it. This was all _his _fault.

And because of _him_, Casey wouldn't be able to defend himself.

"Well…" After about a minute of staying completely still, Raph quietly gestured to the vigilante's leg. "What do I _do_? So you don't _punch _me again?"

"Uh, I think… I think you're supposed to hold the bone down or something;!" Casey replied nervously. "Again, I _think_. I had a broken arm when I was twelve. Stupid kid knocked me straight into that-"

"Yeah. yeah, we _got _that already!" Raph interrupted, his panic showing. "I mean, do we even _wrap _it? A-and, I mean, it's gonna _hurt _no matter what I- okay, _whatever_._ Whatever_! Just hold your leg, and I'll tie it with-"

There was another low, menacing rumble coming from the alley; their heads snapped towards the noise.

It was impossible to tell whether it was the _creature _or _thunder, _but…

Was it even _worth _repeating how _terrible _their luck tended to be?

"Dammit…" Raph swore under his breath, completely freezing up like a deer caught in the headlights. With a shiver, he realized the thing was _coming _for them; even Casey seemed to have caught on.

"Dude, this would be _so _cool if we weren't about to die," The human teen commented with a grin.

It took all of Raph's self control to not slug his friend in the shoulder; he began to unfurl the wrappings. He fumbled with the role of bandages. "Dammit! _Dammit_!"

Casey glanced over at the turtle with a grimace upon hearing the string of profanities.

"Hold on, hold on…" Raph's pride was crumbling. "Why can't _Donnie _be here? We're probably doin' something wrong."

"Just _chill_, man. I- _ow…_ be _careful_! I sent the… message," Casey informed in a whisper. His complexion looked about four shades paler by the time Raph slipped the first layer of wrappings under his leg. "The guys should be on their way."

Raph could only nod his head.

_This is pathetic. _He internally muttered, passing another layer of bandages around the human's leg; his hands were shaky. _Can't even take on a single mutant. _

_Pathetic. _

He _needed _to hurry; he had gotten both of them into this mess… now he had to bust them out.

And soon.

The garbage next to him slightly shifted.

"Um… hey?" Casey whispered; Raph quickly _'shushed' _him down.

"This is gonna hurt no matter what I do, okay? Just… try and bear with it." The red ninja apologized._ So, 'leader', what's the plan? _A voice shouted in his head. _What are we supposed to do? _

"Raph?" Came the same choked voice; Raph only shook his head, stiffening up.

"Keep it down," He warned. _'We'? _He echoed his thoughts. _More like 'me'. Casey's in no condition to do anything right now._

"N-no… _Raph_?"

Casey sounded much more strained.

The turtle paused, fear spiking through him. _Did I really hurt him that bad? _

"What is it?" He demanded out loud, not sure whether to be aggravated or horrified.

He looked over at his injured ally, about to repeat the question.… only Casey _wasn't _looking at him. He wasn't even talking or squirming in discomfort anymore. Absolutely _limp _like a ragdoll, eyes glued to the mouth of the alley… no…

To something…

Raph shut his eyes and let out a deep exhale. _ Just our luck. _

Closer.

Raphael abandoned the wrappings and twirled out his twin weapons. In the same breath, he whipped himself around, eyes peeled for any sign of the monster as it lumbered about.

He could hear its breath… loud and raspy.

But the alley was empty; more thunder sounded overhead as he looked from one side to the other.

"W-what's the plan, _now_, chief?" Casey whispered, balling his hands into fists. "You want some shurikens o-or-"

"No," Raph snapped. "I-I got a plan. You just… lay low. And be quiet." _He _still had all _his _bones intact… for now.

And he planned on using them.

He gripped the handles to his sais a bit tighter as something crumbled overhead; that thing was getting closer; he could practically _smell _it now.

Casey shifted uncomfortably next to him."Ra-"

"Not now."

Rain began to slowly pepper the midnight sky, solidifying the guarantee of the oncoming thunderstorm. Large droplets landed heavily onto his shoulders, some splattering like water balloons, exploding on contact into fireworks of liquid. Others thickly came down in long, odd strands. They were slightly _warm_.

Raph crunched up his nose. _God… what's that smell?_ _Disgusting_. W_orse than this dumpster._

His muscles were itching to punch something; he could hear Casey shuffling again. "Raph? _Seriously…_!"

A raindrop hit the top of the turtle's head, and he quickly brushed it away before it trickled down into his eyes. His palm touched it-

And at once recoiled: that raindrop was _sticky_.

Immediately tearing his hand back, Raph stared at the centre of his hand where a pool of _saliva _was collecting.

Finally, heeding Casey's previous warnings, he slowly looked up.

And from only five feet away, bared teeth and angry, red eyes glared back at him.

* * *

Splinter's ominous foretellings never ceased to disturb him; and this was no exception.

Combined with the horrific events from his aura, the entire situation left a bitter taste in Leonardo's mouth; he was distracted. All the unsettling imagery and unnerving statements his father seemed so sure about played in his mind on repeat, leaving him with an unshakeable chill of concern.

And the more he thought about them, the more he wondered what on earth was coming in the near future.

It wasn't _anything _good, _that _was for sure.

Leo signed, giving a small shake of his head, trying to clear his mind as he gathered up handfuls of smoke bombs for the trip.

"I can worry about that _later…_" He told himself, clearly sidetracked; he barely even noticed the approaching footsteps. "After we get Raph back…"

"Hey, Leo," Mikey's head poked through the doorframe to the kitchen. His fingers drummed along the solid edge for a few seconds while he waited for the other turtle to face him. "Donnie's gettin' kinda mad. He said we better go." He then gestured over his shoulder with a thumb.

The oldest brother let out a breath, nodding as he placed the bowl of ammunition back into the cabinet. He closed the small door gently.

_The sooner we get moving, the better. _"Right."

Mikey grinned innocently, following Leo out with a bounce in his step. "So…" He drew out the word, acting casual. "What's Raph's _punishment _gonna be for running off?"

The blue ninja huffed. "He's _not _cleaning _your _room if that's what you're asking."

"What? No! _Never_! Why- why'd you think _that_?" Mikey defended melodramatically.

Leo rolled his eyes, the only indication of his amusement being a thin smile on his lips. _Yeah, okay. _Hedidn't feel the truth was worth dragging out.

The two made it out to the living room, at once catching sight of Donatello leaning against the pilar near the exit. He was tapping his foot, only turning to face them once they drew closer.

Leo offered a friendly smile to the genius turtle's scowling face.

"About time," The purple ninja complained dryly, still lightly tapping his left heel along the ground.

Leo's eyes widened at the hostile reaction. Then he noticed his brother's sudden excess of energy: eager, growing impatient. Easily irritated.

His breath _reeked _of coffee; no doubt he had downed another cup just minutes ago. For whatever reason was beyond Leo, but he tried to not let that bother him.

He addressed the occupants in the room with a curt nod.

"Okay, everyone's geared up. Splinter knows we're leaving. So, let's move."

* * *

End Chapter Eight


	11. Chapter 9

**((A.N. A new chapter. Finally! After about four months of putting it off, here it is! The start of this chapter, though, is the old ending of the previous one. That chapter was just... too long for my liking.))**

* * *

The three brothers wasted no time vacating their underground home, with Leo taking the lead as expected. They contemplated using the Shellraiser to cover more ground, but the idea was turned away by Splinter's predictions; it would be to their advantage to stay unnoticed, and the rooftops seemed to be their best bet.

Now, armed with their signature smoke bombs, shurikens and grappling hooks, they leaped over the turnstiles and made a break down the abandoned subway tunnel.

The old lights set just below the ceiling, built by sewer workers from years ago, dimmed the further they ran down the underpass.

They had gone over the outline of their mission before departing; head up to the surface.

Then, _search_.

No questions were asked and no comments were made. Even the youngest somehow managed to keep his boisterous remarks to himself. Leo, on the other hand, was too focused on his duties to even think of something to say. Donnie remained silent simply out of respect.

_I wonder if they're catching on, _Leo worried. _No… no, that's ridiculous! There's no way they can know. I didn't tell them anything before… they __**don't **__know. Okay, concentrate on the problem at hand, Leo… your __**brothers **__need you. _

He couldn't help but grit his teeth together, suddenly irked.

_And __**one **__needs you more than usual. _

All _that _was a conversation for another day… and he hoped to have the hot-headed barbarian alongside.

_I should have __**known **__he gets like this. Shell, I'm stupid! Still, he didn't have to blow up like that! I was just trying to __**help**__! _

He set his jaw.

_I hope nothing is __**too **__out of control. _

The tunnel before them was beginning to come to its familiar, sudden halt, leaving the brothers to take a sharp turn down a smaller passageway. It let out into an unmarked metro, the same where Leatherhead's old subway car used to reside.

And in the corner of the underground room was the familiar vertical entrance to the overworld.

"Okay ninjas," The leader began, hand already placed on the cool metal of the ladder; he gazed upwards at the tall, empty shaft. "First things first: we spread out and search for Raph. You two will take the East side by Casey's house, where Raph should be, and I'll-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Donnie interrupted in disbelief, pulling him down from the ladder. "It's not really 'spreading out' if the_ B-team_ goes together, now is it?"

"Yeah, the solo-Leo thing is really old." Mikey put in, with a nonchalant shrug; he seemed a bit distracted, like he only spoke due to his older brother's previous comment.

Leo looked at them both, surprised. "What?"

"What? What do you mean, _'what'_?" Donnie echoed, walking forward so that his nose almost touched his brothers. The leader could still smell the caffeine from his breath. "You're sending me and Mikey out _together _because _you _think we're not good fighters. That's _'what'_!"

Taken aback, Leo fought down the urge to snap back a bitter retort; he was completely _fed up _with being accused by everyone in just a single night.

_It's just the coffee talking, _Leo told himself, relaxing. _There's no way Donnie still holds a grudge over that stupid joke… he isn't that stubborn. _

His eyes darted towards Mikey.

_And he just likes doing whatever we're doing. So if of course if 'making fun of their leader' is the objective, he'd join. _

Leo nodded, relieved he was able to make sense of the situation.

He played along. "Sorry. You're right. I'm just… a little out of it."

Donnie narrowed his eyes; Mikey just grinned wider.

"S'alright, dude," The youngest willingly forgave.

The purple ninja huffed; however, his expression had softened. "Alright… in that case, _I'll _head over to the outskirts of Casey's neighbourhood; there've been reports on gangs hanin' around there and just being stupid." He crossed his arms; then he gave a small chuckle. "And nothing draws Casey in more than street thugs."

"Oooh! _Oooh_! _I'll _go to his apartment!" Mikey chimed in, suddenly ecstatic. "I forget who I'm lookin' for, but I'll find them!"

"...you're… looking for _Raph_. That's where the signal to his T-Phone is." Donnie reminded; suddenly, his face lit up. "In fact, even if he's not there, his T-Phone will be! Mikey, if you go there, try to find his phone."

"Roger dodger!"

Before them, Leo simply watched, unable to stop as they negotiated a plan… _without _him.

Without even _consulting _him.

He forced himself to grin in agreement, internally wincing as his power as a leader seeped through his fingers.

_Don't be so power hungry, _He warned himself. _Besides, we __**need **__to find Raph. __**That's **__the main problem. Everyone's just a little excited right now. They're __**not **__gonna forget about your role… things'll settle. __**They'll **__settle._

"Oh, alright." The leader began to climb up the ladder, hiding his irritation of being overruled by switching his focus to the plan. "Yeah, _sure_. I guess I'll take… what's left. I'm gonna head towards where Casey's supposed to be,"

He looked over his shoulder at the two younger turtles.

"Send a text if you find either of them. We'll meet at Murakami's rooftop in half an hour if we don't." Leo narrowed his eyes. "And that's an _order_."

* * *

Something from far overhead cracked loudly, splitting open the sky with a blinding streak of lighting. Thunder rumbled a few moments later in response.

The ominous, impending summer storm finally had rolled in, wrapping lower Manhattan in a blanket of damp humidity and a sense of imminent worry; the sounds were growing, getting closer and closer with every passing second, and bright flashes of electricity shot across the sky more frequently than ever before.

Rain was next, hazily falling to earth, taking its sweet time dotting the ground until the sidewalks appeared speckled. It would pelt, soon enough; _that _was expected.

_This_, on the other hand, wasn't even supposed to be _happening _in the first place.

Blinking the droplets from his eyes, Raphael swallowed thickly; he squeezed the handles to his twin sai a bit tighter, his entire mind void of reasonable thinking.

Void of _any _thinking, really.

But who could blame him?

That _thing _was staring back at him, its eyes resembling burning coals, gaze searing into his flesh like a red, hot metal rod. Scalding him. His skin was ablaze with goosebumps from the anxiety of being trapped.

It was like a never-ending staring contest… only with dire consequences.

Looking away could very well mean _death_.

Raph gnawed on his bottom lip.

His brain felt like solidifying concrete the longer he waited, thoughts slowing into a trickle until nothing came to him at all. No plans whatsoever.

Leo made it look all too easy, and Raph wasn't sure whether he should congratulate his leader or kick him for that.

Maybe both.

But it all was counting on them getting out alive.

He could hear Casey scrambling in the garbage behind him, mumbling something about finding a crowbar and planning on using it.

_Great. You do that. _Raph dryly commented, his arms getting a tad bit sore. _Maybe you can land a few good hits on it while it's busy chewing on my shell. _

Suddenly, his wavering attention was jerked back as the monster craned its neck up, looking over top of the turtle and onto his injured friend. Eyeing him like a snack.

Though Raph didn't dare check behind him, the slowing sound of Casey's movements signaled he had noticed the larger mutant's horrific gaze and watering maw.

It smelled _awful_. Worse than even an average sewer; this was more like a living, breathing infection.

Raph held his breath and forced himself to keep back the rising bile, but the thing was practically looming overtop of him by this point, its head and shoulders acting like an overhang.

_Well, at least it's blocking the rain. _He almost scoffed at the sardonic thought.

There was _nothing _to be thankful for with this… _thing_.

Its eyes were _blazing _with anger and hunger, but even that was an understatement. It wasn't just a livid, brainless mutant… it was hurt, maddened and _starving_. It wasn't stupid- it knew it had them cornered.

And it had sights set on him and Casey _only_; the rain was coming down harder.

_This __**sucks**__…_The red ninja tensed up the muscles up in his legs, blinking the water from his eyes. _I hope the guys will be here soon. _

Still, _with _or _without _his brother's help, courage or _not_, he _needed _to get the monster away from Casey… or there might not be a Casey to _help _after all this.

And exactly _what _was he planning on doing with a crowbar and busted leg? Zip. Nothing.

Maybe flail around a bit, but what then? No follow up plan. He couldn't run away.

So, with a final, determined glance over his shoulder toward his injured, human companion, Raph took a deep breath… and let all his thoughts go.

_Screw the plan._

And he _winged _it.

Without warning, Raph leaped into the air with a shout, launching out a sai towards the creature at the same time. His feet hit the ground only seconds later, and a hard tremor ran through his legs. Quickly, and without waiting to see if his weapon had hit the target, he sprung back up, ready to defend.

With now only one weapon to his name, he watched its actions intensively.

His attempt of trying to grab its attention proved successful almost immediately; the weapon had buried itself into the crumbling concrete, just past its head.

It had froze.

The mutant's gaze rested on the blade for a moment, as though it were taken aback by the sudden ambush. For a moment, it didn't dare to move, only the very tip of its tail twitching.

Raph held his breath, uncertain.

His mind was running at a mile a minute… but there nothing to show for it other than the pressing, nagging question:

_When are the guys gonna get here? _

_Are they gonna get here? _

Then, as slow as molasses, the thing's head turned over, creaking towards him like a rusty, old metal toy; no other part of its body seemed to move. Only the _head_, its gaze following a sort of invisible path back to the owner.

And he stared back at it, challenging.

The monster seemed to understand; it let out a snarl, lowering its body into a crouch. It's haunches wiggled, indicating its next move.

With unsheathed claws and sharp, bared fangs ready to tear into the soft flesh of an unsuspecting victim, it got ready to spring.

Raph's breath caught in his throat.

But as long as he kept it away from Casey, everything would be fine.

A-okay.

Peachy.

_Oh, who am I kidding? _

Still, he pushed away the doubts before they grew too destructive; _Calm down._ _I'm the best fighter we got. _He encouraged. _I can take this… __**thing**__. I'm the best fighter we- _

An ear-piercing screech, like metal against metal, caught him off guard.

The mutant flung itself at him, head on, using the wall of the building as a launch pad. It's tooth-infested mouth was stretched unnaturally wide, almost splitting its skull into two.

Raph barely had time to react, his feet rooted to the spot as a gasp tore from his throat. He staggered backwards with a yelp, narrowly missing the heavy feet that stomped where he had just been standing, cracking the concrete underneath. His stomach squirmed, blood roaring in his ears.

He had barely even heard the shout coming from his friend during the skirmish.

Without realising, his head swung over toward Casey, watching the human boy's mouth move… but without any sound to accompany it. But his arm was reeled high over his head, something clenched in his fist.

Before Raph could even begin to comprehend what was happening, Casey threw something small and egg-shaped in his direction.

The monster lunged toward him that exact moment, tearing Raph's attention into two. His pulse skyrocketed, mind drowning in the billions of options but unable to focus on one. Leaping up to avoid the blow, he backflipped away from the snapping jaws of the creature. As he sprung back up, he snagged the object in his palm.

As the larger mutant recalculated its next move, staking closer toward him, he risked a look down at the thing. His palm opened and his eyes widened.

_Smoke bomb. _

A thin smile drew across his grim face.

Pulling his senses together, he quickly brought his remaining weapon up to his chest, his other hand discreetly retrieving the smoke bomb.

Valor slowly began to override his alarm as it closed in, claws gleaming and his own reflection staring back at him from the black depths of its soulless eyes.

Unit it was all he could feel; the urge to make the thing pay.

It _hurt _his best friend.

This would _not _go without payback.

Casey was shouting at him again.

But Raph ignored him.

The red masked turtle gritted his teeth together, waiting for the right opportunity-

"_Now_!"

Without hesitation, he slammed the smoke bomb down onto the ground, a thick cloud of deep purple fog exploded around him on impact. Encompassing his body.

Hiding him.

Giving _him _the upper hand.

Under the cover of smoke, he didn't waste time keeping his composure; Raph slid the remaining sai back into its holder, allowing his serious behaviour falter as he desperately flung himself toward the nearest fire escape ladder to gain more ground.

He easily pulled his weight up to the first metal landing, a few feet over from where Casey hid, breathing a bit heavier. As he caught his breath, he watched the mutant below struggle with the bomb's residue.

It was _roaring_, lost in the fog, legs scrambling to bring it to a halt. It's head and tail thrashed, limbs flailing as it tried to rid the area of the blinding inconvenience.

It was trying to find _him_.

Raph smirked at the sight.

_Too bad for you, _He sneered. _Your __**dinner **__just got away. _

No problem_. _His ego rose. "Time for some pay back."

* * *

The dark, puffy thunderheads far above the skyscrapers were on the verge of bursting into an array of showering rain. A few scattered droplets fell to earth on occasion, dotting the sidewalks and rooftops with a light, peaceful sound.

Thankfully, the trip to the surface began long before the promise of a downpour, so time seemed to be well on their side.

For now.

Still, the three couldn't let their guard slip, as danger, whatever the degree, lurked no matter.

It always did.

Most sensible human beings were asleep, and had been for the past couple hours. A few straggling cars weren't uncommon, though they tended to stick to the main roads, and those were located several blocks away.

That meant _this _particular side of lower Manhattan was perfect for sneaking around unnoticed.

Under the cover of rain-threatened darkness, the brothers split up their search, stealthily taking their decided path to try and locate their two missing team members.

And on the rooftop above fifth street, a short, swift shadow leaped over a large gap in between a pharmacy and an apartment. Skillfully, he tucked into a roll as he landed, only to pop back up onto his feet like a spring. Short, bright mask tails fluttered behind his head and he continued on his way.

With every step he took, the wires to the white earbuds bounced along with; he looked down at the phone in his hand, the screen bright and reflecting a mobile game. Up beat eight- bit music poured into his ears as he stuck out his tongue in concentration, watching the small character make its way across the screen. His bulky thumbs pressing the controls frantically, helping his little virtual friend avoid enemies.

Mikey grinned to himself, his previous run slowed to less than a walk. He strolled along, practically oblivious to the time limit Leo was dead set on keeping.

Six minutes had passed since their agreement to spread out and search.

_Leo won't ask about anything just yet, _Mikey reasoned. _He's not that upset. Raph's run away, like, a billion times already. There's nothing special about-_

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

"Oh, sweet!" He cheered, forgetting all about his previous thoughts. "New high score! You go, Mikey! Thanks, Mikey."

He moved his finger to tap on the button that would transport his character to the next level, but all of a sudden, a small window popped up in the corner of the screen. With it came a short jingle.

Mikey's focus shifted.

It was a reminder; someone had just sent a text message.

Closer inspection (which meant one look at the icon) told him that his fearless leader was trying to contact him.

Mikey frowned.

"Aw, man." He felt slightly irritated, as this would definitely put his gaming on pause for a while, but he knew the others would get ticked if he stalled.

_Mikey, are you on your way? _The question came through. _Text back soon._

The youngest halted; he looked around the rooftop, recognizing the sights as Casey's neighbourhood. With that in mind, he figured Donnie was somewhere nearby.

_yeah bro on my way almost there. btw is don close to me anywhere? _

_Mikey, please use some form of punctuation. _Donnie replied. _Honestly, you're giving me a headache. _

_lol k. _Mikey smiled at the comeback he viewed as the pinnacle of brilliance, pleased with himself.

A few seconds went by.

_Just please get back to us with any info. Got it? _Leo's message mirrored his growing impatience. _And try to grab Raph's phone if you see it!_

_yes sir ill do that bye_

Mikey resisted the urge to respond with anything more, instead switching off the device and imagining his genius brother's angry reaction to the text. He hummed in amusement, taking out the earbuds and wrapping the wires around the phone before slipping in into the spare pocket in his belt.

And he went on his way, completely absorbed in the world of his buzzing, imaginative mind.

It took only a few more minutes before he arrived at Casey's apartment, but the rain and wind had begun to pick up rather unfavourably. Shielding his eyes a bit, he stood on the edge of the roof, peering over to see where he should drop down onto.

The fire escape always seemed to be the best bet when it came to this sort of thing, but a particularly harsh gust of wind sent his planning mind screeching to a halt.

With a shiver, he glanced up toward the sky, rubbing his forearms. A chill traveled up his spine.

_Why does it have to be so windy? And so rainy? _He complained. _Eh, at least daydreaming passes the time pretty well_.

Suddenly, he paused his musing. _Or would this be nightdreaming? Wait, wouldn't that just be regular dreaming? _

A shrug. _I'll just ask Donnie later. _

And with that, he gripped the very top of the metal handrail and let himself fall onto the first platform, rain slickening the metal flooring. He took notice of the potential hazard, and repeated the action two more times with more caution.

Finally, he arrived at Casey's floor.

For a moment, Mikey uncertainly glanced at his surroundings, just to prove to himself that he wasn't being watched. Then, he reached out to pull open the window.

It wouldn't budge.

_It's locked. _Came the relisation; and he immediantly felt dumb.

_Duh, of course it's locked, _He told himself with a frown. He tried to peer in through the window, but the place appeared dark. Empty.

Casey and Raph weren't there.

Mikey held out his left hand and fished around for the small knife hidden under his wrappings with his right. _It's NewYork. Who wouldn't lock their windows? I mean, for all I know, maybe Casey's room is booby-trapped. _

He paused again suddenly, eyeing the room just beyond the glass with a new sense of discomfort.

"Okay, maybe I _should _have gone with Donnie," He said aloud, holding the small knife. Finally, though, he sighed and continued on.

_Leo'd get super mad if I just abandoned the mission. Besides, I'm already here. Might as well get it over with._

Jamming the thin blade under the frame, he wriggled the knife until he heard a satisfying _click_. The window opened with relative ease, and he silently snuck in and dropped to his knees on the carpeted floor. Quietly, he turned around and closed the window behind him.

Mikey smiled to himself as he looked around.

"_The super skilled, highly advanced ninja enters the room unnoticed_." He softly spoke to himself, eyeing the contents of the room like they were prized trophies. "_He searches for the rare jewel. Silently, he tiptoes around the laser sensors cause he's just that good_."

He proceeded to make unnecessary, little flips and handstands around the cluttered room, his imagination running wild as he avoided the magazines, clothing and hockey gloves. His eyes moved toward the cabinet as he dropped into a squat.

"_Is the jewel there? Nah. It's too obvious._"

He shook his head, glancing up at the ceiling before averting his attention toward the unkempt nightstand. Then back towards the window.

"Huh," He chewed on his lip. "Raph's… not here. And I kinda _actually _forgot what I was here for. Maybe I should text Leo-"

That was when a gleam caught the corner of his eye, pulling at his attention.

He slowly stood up, turning his head over towards it. He cocked his head a bit, like a dog.

The window he had used to enter the room was located just above and a little to the right of an untidy bed…. and there, a small amount of the remaining moonlight had caught something.

Reflecting.

Almost entranced, Mikey slowly stepped closer towards it, his previous game completely thrown to the wayside. He walked up to the bed and recognized the item almost at once.

_Hey, _His grin widened. _That's Raph's phone! _

He picked up the device, examining it for any cracks or other imperfections, before finally switching the screen on. Just as he expected, Raph's icon blinked on and stared back at him.

His eyes gazed over the screen. But then his smile suddenly fell.

"Oh," Mikey winced; the battery was only at fifty percent, and the cell reception worked great. Raph couldn't use the phone dying or crappy wifi as an excuse.

But if there was no _Raph _to _use _the phone…

For a moment, Mikey looked around the room, as if expecting to see his older brother hiding somewhere, ready to pop out and startle him at any given moment.

But there was nothing of the sort.

Rain was splattering loudly against the glass of the window.

"Okay, _that _might be the problem." He assumed, taking out his own T-Phone to contact his leader. He punched in the numbers, and held the device up to his ear.

Leo picked up right away; it was almost like he was expecting a call.

"_What is it_?" His voice came through the speaker. "_What'd you find? Is he there? Did you find his phone?" _

Surprised at the bombardment of questions, Mikey hesitantly analyzed his hotheaded brother's phone for a few seconds, like he suddenly wasn't sure if it was his or not.

"Uh, I found his phone. Yeah," He nodded his head even though no one would see. "Not Raph, though. He's not here."

Leo groaned. "_Okay, well at least you found that. Good job, Mikey._"

Mikey beamed. "Like a turtle do."

"_Alright, so, I'm gonna check in with Donnie next. He hasn't said anything yet. Just… hang around the place in case you find something. Or __**someone…**__" _Leo's voice grew stern. "_And remember, we meet at Murakami's in about fifteen minutes if nothing turns up_."

"Will do," The youngest mutant promised.

And the call concluded.

_Abruptly_.

Mikey jumped as he heard a click, signaling that Leo ended the conversation. With wide eyes, he stared down at the screen for a few seconds, almost shocked.

"No _goodbye_? Thanks, bro." He told himself in disbelief. "Jeez, how badly is Raph _getting _to you? He literally does this, like, _every _Tuesday. It's practically his _routine_."

Grumbling under his breath, Mikey slipped his phone back into his right belt pocket, and stashed Raph's in his left.

Still, he wasn't about to disobey his leader, no matter how aloof he was acting; it was just in the moment.

He was sure of it.

Mikey's eyes swept over the room one final time.

Satisfied he wasn't leaving anything important behind, he went over to the window and slid a small knob at the top over, ensuring it would lock once he left. He opened it, carefully stepping out onto the rain-slicked fire escape and closing the window behind him.

He pulled on the sill to make sure it was properly locked before wiping the rain from his forehead; it was practically a light shower by now. After a moment, he took his leave, disappearing out onto the rooftop without a sound.

From overhead, a sharp lightning flash momentarily lit up the night.

* * *

Donnie's analytical eyes surveyed the uneven rooftops, a frown never leaving his face while a chill never left his body.

He breathed out through his nose, reaching around to his belt pocket to retrieve his T-Phone. He switched it on, shielding the screen from the showering rain with his hand.

He booted up the tracker, greeted almost at once by the bright, orange signal of Mikey's phone nearby, tugging along Raph's. They weren't far from his current position, maybe four blocks or so away.

He'd probably be able to spot him if it hadn't been for the rain.

"Wow," The purple masked turtle leaned his head back a bit, rather impressed at his spacey brother's accomplishment. A smile almost broke across his face. "He actually did it."

His sights then switched towards Casey's location. At once, he spotted a small, blue icon approaching it.

_Fast_.

He sighed, switching off the phone for the time being and placing it in his belt pocket. With a small shake of his head, he pulled his mask tails out in front of him and squeezed the water out with a grimace.

"Might as well start heading over there." He decided, speaking softly to himself. With keen eyes, he glanced around the buildings, scanning the alleyways. "Nothing's going on here."

He stood up, straightening out his slumped posture with a stretch.

He took out his T-Phone once final time and forwarded a quick message to his leader, not even waiting for a response.

_Leo, I'm heading over toward your location. Casey's not anywhere around here._

And with that, he abandoned his post, leaping from the rooftop and onto the fire escape adjacent to the building. He used the rail to gain momentum, jumping from that and snagging a similar platform on the opposite side before hoisting himself onto the roof.

The rest was smooth sailing… but the rain was coming down harder now.

He had to stop several times to wipe the water from his mask, soaking into his eyes. Eventually, fed up with the constant pauses, he slid his mask down to sit around his neck, kind of like an ascot.

_I can't believe the forecast called for a clear night… _He complained. _We watched that entire thing for nothing. I knew a summer thunderstorm was coming. Bunch of meteorologist liars._

The phone buzzed in his back pocket.

Donnie wondered whether he should pause or keep moving, but his curiosity got the best of him. He stopped on the edge of a corporation, pulling out the device and reading the message:

_Are you sure? _Leo had replied. _I mean, as long as Mikey knows where we all are, sure. We can meet up there instead of Murakai's. _

Donnie's response was rather delayed, considering he was typing with one hand while the other deflected the rain.

_Should I go and find Mikey? _

_Bro did u forget this is a group chat thing or no bc i can just read everything. Ill be there leo just tell me ur street number._

Donnie's eyes twitched. _Mikey, did you remember what I told you about punctuation? And now perhaps proper spelling?_

But Leo nipped the potential argument in the bud.

_Okay, calm down. I'm down near that old nic-nac shop between fifteenth and Laird street. I'll get up on the roof so you can see me easier. Casey's location is just on the other side, in the alley._

Donnie felt his stomach slightly turn at the mention. "The alley? And with an 'SOS' text... ?" He bit his lip and replied back as fast he could.

_Leo, I think something's wrong. Casey sent us an "SO", remember? I don't think that phrase and his tracker being stuck in an alley is very good._

_u think theyr ok?_

Donnie didn't even seem to mind the butchered spelling this time around. He began rushing towards Leo's location.

_No. I don't think they're okay. Leo, I think you really need to check up on them. Now. We'll meet you. We've got your address. _

A few seconds ticked by.

_Alright. Get here soon, guys. _Leo responded.

And that was that. Leo's icon dulled, signalling he had shut off his phone. Mikey's was dull, too. That left Donnie.

He placed the device into his belt pocket and ran the rest of the way, ignoring the rain to the best of his ability.

Whether it was the caffeine's effects finally taking a hold of him, or he just really was _that _awake, his mind buzzed relentlessly, showing him all different kinds of possible, unfortunate situations.

They only served to encourage him to run faster.

_Dammit, Raph… why are you like this? Why can't you just bite the bullet without turning the whole thing into a huge __**mess**__? And why'd you have to drag __**Casey **__into it?_

But the very moment the words flashed across his mind, he felt shame bubble up in his chest.

And then panic_._

* * *

End Chapter Nine


	12. Update on 'Talons' short preview

**Important Update for 'Talons, Traitors and Turtles' and my account in general below! (+ Preview of Chapter 10!) **

Hello! I'm Rissy. I will try and keep this update short and to the point.

If you're following '_Talons'_, you may notice that it takes me around a month or two to release a chapter (typically). However, this time around, it's been about three months, almost four. Does that mean I'm close to finishing the next chapter? To be honest, not really.

But, this does **not **mean I am quitting on the story. I've read a few fanfictions, and I know how it feels when a story is cut off before ending properly, and I don't want to subject people to that. So, for that reason, I am giving you all a quick update on the story so you know what's going on.

What's taking me so long?

Easy: Marching Band. I am involved in my school's marching band, and over the summer, we get a head start on our show music before the competitive season actually begins. We spend about four hours practicing in July and nine hours in August. This has already started, and will continue into August, and I've been very busy with it. When September starts, I will have more time to write in school, so expect monthly updates on the story (or, at the lasted, a gap of two months).

And one last thing! While '_Talons_' is on a short hiatus, I'll be re-vising '_The Drip' _(it'll be easier for me to edit _that_ story because it is already written out). I wrote waaay too much, and sometimes, more was just more. I'll be updating that often, so if you're interested, please check it out! : )

Anyway, here's a little preview of Chatper 10 from '_Talons_'!

I hope you understand and stay safe out there!

* * *

Who knew payback could feel just as _painful _as it was _rewarding_?

Raphael stood by the mouth of the alley, hands on his knees while a new, yet rather shallow, scratch mark stood boldly against the skin on his forearm.

His lungs _burned_, feet _ached_, and the right side of his ribs _stung _from the nasty blow that would surely bring about a bruise under his shell.

Still…_ "out of sight, out of mind",_ as they say.

There was no point in fretting over a wound he wouldn't ever be able to see unless his shell were to… _literally _come off.

And if that happened to be the case, the outcome would ultimately be death.

Plain and simple.

There was no point in dancing around the question, especially when every unnerving thought that crossed his mind had the possibility of becoming reality.

If he forgot to duck? He'd lose his head.

Forgot to dodge? Deep, long cuts all over his body.

Forgot to _run_? Well, Raph honestly didn't feel like forgetting _that _would be an issue.

And yet, the sight before him still managed to trigger an instinct deep within him, almost forgotten. It had startled him at first.

Perhaps it belonged to the original, un-mutated turtle he once was.

It was a feeling he had to constantly suppress: _retreat_.

_Retreat _and stay _alive_.

But Raph wasn't about to let Casey deal with a huge mutant beast all by himself, _and _with a broken leg.

Raph growled softly. It seemed like the Reaper was staring straight back at him, dark scales and flowing tail _beckoning _him to screw up and have his whole life swept right out from under him.

He never dared take his eyes off the creature, even as he struggled to regain his breath.

"It just… won't… quit…" He panted out almost angrily, tired eyes darting upwards at the mention of the creature. His mouth curved down into a snarl, fingers curling into a tight fist over his scruffed knee-pads.

It had begun to rain rather hard just minutes earlier, to the point where Raph tore off his water-soaked mask and cast it aside for later.

Lightning occasioning illuminated the cluttered alley, giving him a bit of spatial awareness in between the moments of darkness.

Rain droplets threatened to blur his vision, but he wiped them away from the back of his hand.

It. Wouldn't. _Die_.

Sweet Mother of Mutagen, how _long _had he been _fighting _this thing?

Never once changing its defensive position, the huge, battered lizard stared right back at him quietly with dull, almost hazy-looking red eyes. It's tail had halted behind it, slightly curling forwards.

The creature's maw was hanging open, a cut stretching from under its nose to its top lip. Dark blood dribbled onto its teeth before finally falling to the ground.

It was easy to spot it's heaving sides; the mutant was no doubt exhausted from the fight Raph had put up, determined to get back at it for what it had done to Casey.

The red ninja smirked at the thought, looking up and down the creature, soaking in its wounds.

Some were large, others barely a scratch.

_Eye for an eye, you bastard. _Raph chuckled darkly inwards.

His '_pay back_' had been simple, really.

Still riding off the high of managing to stun the stupid thing with Donnie's new and fancy smoke bombs, he swung himself over the ledge of the fire escape platform, one leg extended out.

The target?

It's _face_.

And boy, if the sound that came with driving the lizard's head onto the dirty, cracked ground of the alley didn't feed into his ego, he didn't know _what_ else could.

It was almost cinematic, in a way, like all the over-the-top action movies he and Mikey rented out to watch. They were cheesy, but _hey_, they definitely made Raph feel at least a little jealous… despite how _fake_ they obviously were.

But _that_?

What he just _did_?

It had been _perfect_.

Like _it _had been completely _fake_.

It had gone _too _well, with him managing to dodge the thing's flailing limbs as he back flipped off of its head.

He kept falling back until he hit the mouth of the alley, feeling confident he had put enough distance between it and him.

But, just as always, it had gotten up.

And equally as irritatingly, his exhaustion was only now taking a toll on his performance… just when he was so _close _to finishing the thing off for _good_.

Only now did he become acutely aware of how much his skull throbbed with every little movement, a clear sign that a blistering headache wasn't too far behind… if it hadn't already gotten ahold of him.

Raph was nearly one hundred percent positive that the discomfort pulsing through his head was just a side effect of stress and nothing more.

He didn't want to even _risk _believing he might actually have a concussion, minor or not.

The thought worried him; he couldn't recall a time when he got totally wasted by the thing, which could either mean he managed to _dodge _its attacks, or he _blacked _out for a brief moment from the force.

He hoped it wasn't the latter.

After all, he could faintly remember the conversation Master Splinter had with Donnie over a month ago, when the purple ninja pulled an all-nighter for a whole week before finally getting caught as he tried to make coffee at four in the morning.

It _would _have been impressive if nothing bad had come out of it.

Even though at the time it had been _hilarious_, it soon just turned depressing, since the genius had to spend the next couple days on a mat in the dojo, sleeping on and off between bouts of total, brain-numbing agony.

It was _not _the outcome Raph was hoping for, but if he were being honest, he could already see himself lying on the couch in the lair, bruised and covered with gashes.

And on top of all that, like bitter frosting on a cake of failure, would be a _headache_.

All because of that… _thing_.

Raph stiffened a bit.

His hands had become so sweaty he was sure his weapons would slip from his grasp at any moment if he even dared loosen his grip.

He risked a glance over his shoulder, up at the surrounding skyscrapers.

_Those guys better get here soon. _He muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes as water dripped down his face. _Until then…_

He checked back at the mutant, pleased that it hadn't moved.

"Okay, you… weird, lizard _thing_," He called towards it, tightening his grip on his sai. "I don't know _what _the heck you are, if you even _know _what I'm saying, but I'm _warning _you…"

He took a step closer; the creature took one _back _as a reply.

"Give up and leave me and my friend alone…" His voice grew dark. "Or I'll _make _you."


End file.
